


The Princess & The Dragon Rider

by coolandcreativetwo



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2017-11-26 01:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 61,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/644815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolandcreativetwo/pseuds/coolandcreativetwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Hiccup is sent to Corona for dragon awareness, he soon finds himself torn between two worlds as he falls for the princess of the kingdom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Living the Good Life

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was in a great mood, as he had just finished a flight with Toothless across his home, the Isle of Berk. It had been five years since they had defeated the Red Death, yet Hiccup still couldn't believe how much his life had changed. He had not only approval and respect from his father, Stoick the Vast, but from the entire Hairy Hooligan tribe. Dragons have become pets and companions in the village. Hiccup now has a best friend, which happens to be the most rare and intelligent dragon, the Night Fury.

What's more, Hiccup also now has a girlfriend: Astrid Hofferson, the girl that Hiccup has had a crush on since he was eight years old. Ever since she had kissed him after he woke up, it had been awkward between them, and they didn't know what to say to each other, until one day, Hiccup invited Astrid for a ride on Toothless, and she gladly accepted. This time, the flight was more relaxing and comfortable, and it didn't have Toothless doing any spins or twists and turns like on the first flight they had. Of course, Astrid had her arms around Hiccup's waist, which always sent chills up his spine and butterflies in his stomach, but still, he enjoyed the feeling.

After the flight which included seeing the pink clouds and the northern lights, they landed in the cove, which was the same place where Hiccup had started his friendship with Toothless, and where Astrid kissed Hiccup on the cheek after their first flight. After landing, they sat down near the lake, and after a few minutes, Hiccup suddenly asked about what happened after he went unconscious. They began talking, and soon, they had revealed their feelings for each other. Hiccup and Astrid became a couple ever since, going out for many dates together. They either went on their own dragons, (Hiccup with Toothless, and Astrid with her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly), so they can race each other around the island while they're up high in the sky, or Astrid can simply hop on Toothless, and then she and Hiccup can have another romantic flight.

They also went together to go stargazing at the cove, or watch the sunset on the beach. Hiccup feels his life became much better than it has been in the past. Before, he was referred to as "Hiccup The Useless", but now, he's known as a hero to everyone in the village. A huge party was recently held for him at the Meade Hall, to celebrate the end of the war between vikings and dragons.

Finally, Hiccup is also getting used to his prosthetic leg. At first, it had been giving him unbearable pain, especially at night time. It had been hard for Hiccup to sleep at night, not only from the pain of his leg, but because he had been having nightmares about the battle with the Red Death. Now, his leg is free of pain and he gets a good night's sleep every night. Hiccup was on his way to see Astrid when he heard the voice of Stoick's best friend and battle brother, Gobber the Belch.

"Hey Hiccup!", Gobber shouted, "Could you come here?"

Hiccup quietly groaned, but he still went over to Gobber's house, which was where he was.

"Hey Gobber, is something wrong?" Hiccup asked. "Oh no, nothing's wrong." Gobber said.

"Well then, why did you call me?" Hiccup asked.

"Your dad wanted me to find you", Gobber said, "He said he had something very important to discuss with you."

"Okay, where is my dad?" Hiccup asked. "He's over at your house." Gobber said.

"I'll go over there now, thanks for letting me know." Hiccup said.

He then walked toward his home on the hill, and after a while, he finally got to the door. When he came in, he saw his dad sitting at the table near the fireplace.

"Hey Dad", Hiccup said as he closed the door. "Gobber told me you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, son, please have a seat," Stoick said. "What I want to talk to you about is very important."


	2. Stoick's Big Surprise

Hiccup felt nervous as he and his father sat at the dining room table, so he decided to break the silence between them.

"Hey dad, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Hiccup asked.

"Since the dragons have been great for us here in Berk for five years now, I thought it would be great if other villages knew that dragons are good now, so I hope you wouldn't mind going on a trip to another village, and staying there for a while?" Stoick asked.

"Sure, but dad, exactly how long would i be in this village?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh not long, son, just a year." Stoick said.

Hiccup's jaw suddenly dropped and his eyes looked like they were about to pop about.

"A year? As in twelve months?" Hiccup asked while shocked.

"Come on, Hiccup, it's not that long, besides, there's a lot of thing you can do there. I mean, you can enjoy the scenery and the culture, learn new activities, and best of all, you'll get to meet the princess who lives there." Stoick said.

"Princess? Dad, what kind of village is it?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, Hiccup, it's actually a kingdom. You know, a place that's ruled by a king and queen. I have to say, the place is magnificent." Stoick said.

"Hey, dad, how do you know all of this?" Hiccup asked.

"Hiccup, do you remember that fishing trip I took last month?" Stoick asked, which Hiccup nodded.

"Well, it wasn't actually a fishing trip. It was actually a trip over to what they call 'The Kingdom Of Corona.' Of course, I decided to get there by boat." Stoick said.

"So, do I have to use a boat to get there myself?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh no, you can get there with your dragon of you want to." Stoick said.

"Well, I'm glad I can bring Toothless with me, I'm not so sure Astrid will be very happy with me being away for a year." Hiccup said.

"Oh it's good you brought up Astrid, because I've wanted to talk to you about your relationship with her." Stoick said.

Hiccup suddenly became more worried, wondering if his dad would tell him that they should break up.

"What did you do for Astrid's birthday when it came?" Stoick asked, and Hiccup was surprised at first, but still went ahead, and gave an answer for his dad's question.

"First, me and Astrid went racing with our dragons around the island, and then we landed on a deserted beach, where we watched the sunset, until the sky was dark. After that, we flew over to the cove, and I managed to set up a table there, so that we could share a private dinner, before the big party back in the Meade Hall." Hiccup explained.

"Sounds like you two had a great time." Stoick replied. "Yes, we did, and so was that what you wanted to know?" Hiccup asked, and his father shook his head.

"You and Astrid seem to be pretty serious, and so I was wondering, when do you intend on proposing to Astrid?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup now felt like he was going to choke from hearing what his father just asked him, but instead he cleared his throat and decided to tell him what he was planning for Astrid.

"Well, dad, Astrid's birthday is coming up, and I had been planning on inviting her for a 'hunting trip', but it would actually be a trip for us to go camping. The plan would be for us to fly to a secluded island that's off the coast of Berk, and during the days, we would do the things she likes to do, like fishing and sparring, and during the nights, we would the spend our time in the campsite I have secretly built. What do you think?" Hiccup asked.

"Wow, that does sound great, except, when I visited the King and Queen of Corona, I told them you would be coming very soon." Stoick said.

"Dad, when you say very soon like that, you mean I'll be coming to Corona when, exactly?" Hiccup asked.

"I mean, son, you'll be coming to Corona tomorrow."

Hiccup's eyes widened again. "Tomorrow? What about Astrid's birthday? Especially since it's coming very soon?" Hiccup asked.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup, but...hey, aren't you planning to meet up with Astrid later?" Stoick asked.

"Yes, dad." Hiccup said while he nodded.

"Well then, why don't you celebrate her birthday early tonight, and this time, have her present be an engagement ring!" Stoick said.

"Dad, I'm not so sure, but I know that we've been dating for a few years now. I do love her, but I never even considered marriage. I mean, it's a big step and also a big commitment. How about I propose to her after I return from my trip?" Hiccup asked.

"Are you sure, son?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup nodded. "Yes dad, tonight seems too soon, and I'm sure Astrid can wait that long for a engagement ring." Hiccup said.

"Okay, son, if that's your decision, then I'll respect it. I promise." Stoick said.

"Thanks Dad." Hiccup and his father then shared a hug that lasted for almost half a minute.

"Well then, I'm going to pack for my trip now, and after, I'll meet with Astrid." Hiccup said.

"Sounds good, son." Stoick said.

Hiccup found a basket near the table and he went upstairs to his room.

He packed many things: his clothes, underwear, and all of his drawings and sketches. He then went downstairs to the kitchen, and found a loaf of bread and a jug of water and he put them into the basket as well. Hiccup was now all done packing, and he left the basket his dad's bed before going outside to find Astrid.

A few minutes later, he found her. "Hey Astrid." Hiccup said cheerfully.

"Hi Hiccup, what's up?" Astrid asked.

"Could we please meet at the cove tonight? There's something I need to talk to you about." Hiccup said.

"Sure, I'll meet you there." Astrid said, and kissed Hiccup on the cheek.

Once she was gone, Hiccup began to wonder how Astrid will feel being here in Berk, while knowing her boyfriend is somewhere far away, in another village, or what's more, a kingdom that goes by the name of Corona.


	3. Taking the Next Step

While Hiccup anxiously waited for Astrid to arrive at the cove, he wondered about how she would feel when he told her, he was going to be away from Berk for a year. Soon, a while later, Astrid finally showed up.

"Hey Hiccup." Astrid said, smiling.

"Hi Astrid." Hiccup replied, trying to smile back.

They kissed each other on the cheek and found a spot to sit near the lake.

"So what is it you want to talk to me about?" Astrid asked.

"Well, earlier today, my dad and I were talking about how the dragons have been great for all of us here in Berk for five years now, and so, he said it would be good for other villages, to know that dragons are good now, and I agree with him, so apparently, I'm going on a trip to a village for dragon awareness." Hiccup explained.

"Okay, so when are you leaving?" Astrid asked. "Very Soon." Hiccup responded. "Hiccup, when you say it like that, you mean you're leaving..." Astrid said. "Tomorrow." Hiccup replied.

Astrid suddenly looked very surprised. "You're leaving tomorrow?" Astrid replied sadly. "Astrid, if you don't want me to go, I understand." Hiccup said.

Astrid shook her head. "No, Hiccup. Since it does very important, you should go. How long will you be gone, exactly?" Astrid asked.

"Not long, just one... year." Hiccup answered.

Now, Astrid looked devastated. "A year?" Astrid said, suprised, and she now looked like she was to cry.

"Oh, Astrid, please don't cry. I'm so sorry. I guess I should go." Hiccup said, and then slowly stood up, but the Astrid grabbed his arm.

"No, please stay." Astrid requested.

"Okay." Hiccup replied, and sat down again.

Astrid then suddenly punched Hiccup at the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?" Hiccup asked.

"That was for agreeing to go on a trip to another village for a year." After what she said, Astrid then kissed Hiccup, this time, on the lips.

Hiccup now had a surprised look on his face.

"Wow! What was that for?" Hiccup asked, smiling.

Astrid smiled back. "That was for agreeing to stay here with me for the night." Astrid answered.

"Wait a minute, for the night?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, since you are leaving tomorrow, we might as well make this night special." Astrid replied.

"So what should we do?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid turned her head to the lake. "We should go swimming." Astrid responded.

"Would the water be freezing?" Hiccup asked.

"Exactly." Astrid answered, and suddenly stood up and untied her hair.

As she now began to take off her clothes, first with her skull emblazoned shoulder pads, Hiccup averted his eyes as much as possible.

After a few minutes of hearing her clothing drop to the ground, Hiccup heard a big splash, which meant that Astrid was now in the water, waiting for Hiccup.

"Alright, Hiccup, now it's your turn." Astrid said. "Okay, but no peeking, so please turn around." Hiccup said, and Astrid nodded and turned around.

Hiccup first took off his fur vest, then his green tunic, both his fur boots, one that was covering his right foot, and the other, which was covering his prosthetic leg. He also took off his brown belt, and brown pants, and then his underwear. Finally, he removed his prosthetic carefully, and he left it near his clothes on the ground. Hiccup was just a few steps from the lake, where he poked his right toe in the water. Hiccup took a few steps back and he dived into the lake. When Astrid turned around, she saw that Hiccup was shivering, and his teeth were chattering.

"Come on, Hiccup! It's not that cold." Astrid said. "It's freezing!" Hiccup shouted.

"You have to swim around to get used to it." Astrid replied, while swimming over to him.

Hiccup couldn't believe this was happening. They were completely naked together in the lake at the cove alone. Astrid took his hand, pulling him deeper into the water, and didn't let go as they floated in the water. After a few minutes, they were now facing each other. They stared at each other for a while, before Astrid came closer into Hiccup's arms. Hiccup's eyes widened as her body came in contact with his.

"Uhh..." Hiccup muttered shocked.

"Just relax, Hiccup. Enjoy this moment." Astrid responded.

Hiccup soon relaxed and wrapped his arms around her.

"I going to miss you so much, Hiccup." Astrid said softly.

"I going to miss you too." Hiccup replied back.

After what seemed like forever just holding each other, Astrid got her head off Hiccup's shoulder and looked into his green eyes.

"I think it's time we got out of the water. There's something I want to give to you." Astrid said.

"Okay." Hiccup said.

Astrid took his hand as they began to get out of the water.

They were now out of the lake, dripping wet, and Hiccup walked over to his clothes. He was about to bend down to get his underwear when he suddenly felt Astrid's hand on his back.

"Hiccup, sit down and cross your legs." Astrid said, and Hiccup did exactly that.

Astrid walked over and sat across from where Hiccup was. Hiccup's eyes widened as he could see her bare chest up close.

"Well, uhh.. so what is it you want to give me?" Hiccup asked.

"You're leaving tomorrow and you'll be gone for a year. Lay down on your back, Hiccup, and then I'll give it to you." Astrid replied.

When Hiccup laid down, he soon realized what Astrid was taking about. He didn't feel this was the right time and the right place for her to give it up to him. Astrid had already crawled over to Hiccup and was now giving him passionate kisses all over his face.

"Astrid, could you wait a second?" Hiccup asked. Astrid didn't listen and continued to kiss him.

"No, Astrid, could you please stop!" Hiccup shouted, and Astrid immediately stopped and stared at him in shock.

"What's wrong?" Astrid asked. Hiccup opened his mouth to talk, but couldn't focus, since he was staring at her chest.

"Astrid, could you please cover yourself up?" Hiccup asked.

"Okay, but as long you do the same." Astrid replied.

"How about we just put our clothes back on?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid nodded, and they both went to where their clothes and put them on.

They both sat on the ground near the lake again.

"So what's the problem?" Astrid asked.

"I think if this is going to be special, then it should really happen on the night of our wedding." Hiccup answered.

"So you do want to marry me, don't you?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup suddenly blushed from Astrid's question, but then took a deep breath, and took both Astrid's hands.

"Yes, Astrid. I love you, and I can't live without you, because you're both the most beautiful girl in the world, and the greatest Viking of our age, and after five years together, I believe that you and I are truly meant to be together, and that's why I wanted to ask, will you marry me?" Hiccup answered.

Astrid was now smiling and she went over, and hugged Hiccup so hard, he felt like he was going to burst. After they kissed for a few minutes, they were gazing into each other's eyes.

"I love you too, Hiccup, and I can't wait for you to be my husband." Astrid responded.

"Do you think you can wait a year? After I return from my trip?" Hiccup asked.

"Only if you promise you won't fall for another girl at that village." Astrid replied.

"I promise." Hiccup said while nodding.

"Good, but we still need to make this night special." Astrid responded.

"I hope you don't mean what you wanted us to do earlier?" Hiccup asked.

"Of course not. You can just wrap your arms around me, and we'll lay down on the grass together. How does that sound?" Astrid asked.

"That sounds great." Hiccup answered.

They both laid down on the grass, and closed their eyes as they snuggled together, and then fell asleep in each other's arms. They enjoyed each other's closeness as the moon shined on the couple in all its' splendor, covering them with a blue and magical glow.


	4. Goodbye, My Fellow Vikings

As the sun began to rise over the cove, Hiccup slowly began to wake up. When the Viking noticed that he had Astrid in his arms, he realized he was going to not just miss spending time with her, but also the island of Berk itself. A few weeks after he had defeated the Red Death, his father decided that he was going to be the chief of the tribe, at least, when he got married. At first, he didn't feel great about taking on the job in the future, but one night, Astrid was able to convince him that he would be a great leader. He felt very happy and lucky and grateful to be with Astrid.

Hiccup remembered back when he was at the harbor watching as Toothless was being taken away, to help the tribe locate the dragon's nest and Astrid asked him why he didn't kill Toothless. When Hiccup said he wouldn't kill him because he looked just as afraid as he was, he realized that his mercy towards Toothless was an act of bravery, and not an act of weakness. With knowing that, Hiccup wouldn't have been able to come up with a plan, to get back Toothless, and save the tribe from the Red Death. He soon thought it was very soon to propose to Astrid, but deep down, he knew he couldn't live without her. Now that they are engaged, he couldn't be happier. When Astrid began to wake up, she smiled as soon as she looked up and saw Hiccup's face.

"Good morning." Hiccup said, smiling back.

"Same to you." Astrid replied.

"I'm sorry that I didn't give you a ring last night." Hiccup said.

"Don't worry, Hiccup. It doesn't matter. I'm just happy you did propose." Astrid responded.

"Well, I'm leaving today. Should we tell our parents we're getting married?" Hiccup asked.

"No, after you get back from your trip, then we'll tell them together." Astrid answered.

"Sounds good." Hiccup said, and they kissed.

"Well, I guess we should be heading back." Hiccup said.

"Not yet. We still have a lot of time to ourselves." Astrid mentioned.

"Alright, then." Hiccup replied.

For the next hour, they stayed at the cove, and after, they walked back to the village, holding hands.

"So when I get back from my trip, we'll start planning the wedding, right?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, that's right. Now that's settled, you should get Toothless and the things you packed. It would be better for you to get to that village, while the sun is up." Astrid said.

"Good idea." Hiccup said.

They had a kiss on the lips, then Hiccup went toward his house. He grabbed the basket he packed his things in, and then he called for his best friend.

"Hey, Toothless! Are you in here?" Hiccup loudly asked.

Toothless suddenly came down the stairs, and now he was sitting in front of Hiccup.

"I hope you're ready to go flying, because we're going on a trip today."

Toothless growled and nodded, which Hiccup knew meant yes.

"Good. I just need to say goodbye to Dad, and we'll go."

Hiccup called for his father, but he didn't answer.

"Hmm, I wonder where Dad is?" Hiccup thought.

"Maybe he's at the forge, talking to Gobber."

"Stay right here, bud. I'll be back." Hiccup told Toothless.

His pet dragon nodded, and Hiccup went outside his house, and then walked to the forge. When Hiccup got there, he called out for his dad, and Gobber, but neither of them was there. He looked around the village, and saw that there were no vikings or dragons around.

At first, Hiccup wondered if everyone had gone on a hunting trip without him, but then thought they would all be at the Great Hall. He took a deep breath before he began walking, up the stairs of one hundred-and-twenty five steps. As soon as he stepped in, he saw that it was filled near capacity, and every single face- human and dragon - was looking at him.

With Hiccup not having a moment to contemplate what was going on, the human population burst forth, crying out "Surprise!", while the dragons roared together in counterpoint. Hiccup took a startled step backwards, only to come into contact with his father's large body. Stoick's hands grasped Hiccup's shoulders to steady him.

"It's all for you, son." Stoick told Hiccup.

"Dad, what's all of this?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, since you are leaving today to go on a trip, that will definitely mean a lot to the changes our village has made, we decided to give you a magnificent goodbye party!" Stoick said excitedly.

"Whose idea was it?" Hiccup asked, and Stoick nodded his head to the right.

When Hiccup looked in that direction, he was pleasantly surprised, to see Astrid smiling, and broadly clapping with everyone else. Astrid winked which had Hiccup's whole face suddenly turning red. He was about to walk to where she was sitting, but then his father stopped him.

"Hold on, son. I'd like to give a speech first." Hiccup nodded, and stayed near his father, as they walked to the center of the hall.

When Stoick raised his right hand, every human, and dragon immediately stopped cheering and clapping.

"Welcome, my fellow vikings and new friends! First, I would like to thank you all for coming to be here, especially since this will be the last time we'll be seeing my son for a while."

Everyone now had a confused look on their face.

"Well, you should all know, that since the alliance of vikings, and dragons has been incredible for Berk for the five years, I have decided it would be great if other villages knew about this companionship, so my son Hiccup, and his dragon will be going on a trip for a year to the Kingdom Of Corona for dragon awareness. To prove that dragons mean no harm and they can be your friends, your allies, your companions!" Stoick shouted and then he took a mug of mead, and rose it up high.

"Now, let us all raise our mugs, in hope that my son will successfully bring the friendship of vikings and dragons to another village!"

Every viking immediately did the same, raising their mug up high, while the dragons roared together again.

"Now then, go on son, join Astrid and have fun." Stoick said as he sent Hiccup towards Astrid and the rest of the teens, as he took his seat right next to her at the head table.

Everyone else who was sitting: Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the Thorston twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, immediately went to talking to Hiccup while they each ate through their meal of meat and vegetables.

"So who are you going to meet when you get to Corona?" Fishlegs asked.

"I believe I'm going to meet not just the King and Queen, but also their daughter, who is the Princess." Hiccup said.

"Hey, I bet the princess must be very pretty." Tuffnut said while giving a smile.

Astrid, along with Ruffnut, were now glaring at Tuffnut, which caused his smile to disappear.

"Either way, there's already only one girl in the world for me." Hiccup said, giving Astrid one of his goofy grins.

Astrid smiled back, and they shared a passionate kiss.

"Wow, you two seem very happy." Ruffnut said.

"Yes we are. In fact, don't tell anyone what we told you, but the truth is... we're getting married." Astrid said.

At first, the other teens looked shocked, but eventually had a happy on their face.

"I thought you said we'll wait to tell everyone." Hiccup told Astrid.

"Yes, but I never said we'll wait to tell our friends." Astrid said.

"So, was this party your idea?" Hiccup asked Astrid before taking a bite a meat.

"Well, I mentioned it, and everyone else was interested and thought it should happen. What do you think?" Astrid asked.

"I think it's pretty special." Hiccup replied while smiling.

When they heard that musicians were preparing to play music, Hiccup suddenly stood up.

"Hey, Astrid. Would you like to dance?" He asked while holding out his hand.

"I would love to." Astrid replied, as she took Hiccup's hand and they went to where the dance floor was, and they began dancing to the sounds of drums, pipes, flutes, and harps.

They had a great time dancing. After a while, Hiccup decided that while he was having fun, he should be leaving to Corona by now.

"Excuse me for ending our dance, but I really think I must go on my trip." Hiccup said.

"Okay." Astrid replied, and immediately gave him a big hug.

"Just make sure to be careful." Hiccup nodded.

"Don't worry, I will." He walked over to where his father was.

"Hey dad, I think it's time for me to go now." Hiccup said.

"Okay, son. Do you need help getting your things?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup shook his head. "No, that's okay. I can do that on my own. Could you help me down the steps?" Hiccup asked.

"Of course, but first, let me tell everyone you're leaving." Stoick said.

Hiccup nodded, and then watched his father walk to the center of the hall.

"Excuse me, everyone. I would like all of you to know that my son has decided to leave for his trip now, so we will watch him as he and his dragon fly off to Corona."

Stoick returned to Hiccup to help down the steps, while every viking and dragon followed. When he was at the bottom of the steps, Hiccup went to his house to get Toothless and the basket which he packed his things in. Once he was inside, he went upstairs to put on his riding vest.

"Hey, Toothless. Come with me, bud. It's time to go." Hiccup told to his dragon when he came downstairs.

Toothless nodded, and immediately followed his rider. They walked over to the cliff of the island, and Hiccup attached his basket with Toothless, and when he looked back, he smiled as everyone, from his father, and Astrid, and rest of the tribe starting cheering. Hiccup turned around, and climbed aboard his best friend, as he slid his foot into the stirrup.

"Farewell," Astrid whispered to Hiccup, though he couldn't hear her. "Godspeed. Make good choices."

"Ready, bud?" Hiccup asked. Toothless snorted, and the rider and dragon shot off the cliff and into the sky.

Everyone watched until they were only a speck in the distance, and finally, until they had disappeared altogether. Hiccup felt fantastic as they soared out over the churning ocean waves gleaming in the sunshine.

Suddenly, Hiccup began to think about Tuffnut said. "Hmm, I wonder if the princess really is pretty..."


	5. A Task for the Princess

Rapunzel didn't feel happy as she woke up in her four poster bed, in the castle she was now living with her real parents. Even though she was in the place where she should have been all these years, there were still things she missed so badly. First of all, she missed having long,beautiful, blonde hair that was seventy feet long. There were many things she had done with her hair: used it as a swing, wrapped it around objects, like a pulley or a door handle, had it braided with flowers.

Most importantly, she was able to heal and reverse aging when she sang a special song. She would sing that song while a woman named Mother Gothel stroked her hair with a brush. There are times when Rapunzel would miss her. Whether it is right or not, she has considered Mother Gothel her mother for eighteen years.

It was hard for Rapunzel to stop seeing her as one. The King and Queen, despite what they do to make up for all the lost time, don't really know her. They have to keep being reminded of her favourite foods, what dresses she'd approve of, what instruments she plays, and what books take her interest.

"Mother Gothel would have known everything." Rapunzel thought, then instantly regretted it.

"Mother Gothel was selfish, and she never loved me. She only wanted me for my magic hair."

She still wonders, though, remembering all the hours, the days, the months, and the years of careful attention that Mother Gothel had spent with her as she was growing up. Rapunzel was taught to read and sing, cook and bake, polish and wax, mop the floor and do laundry. She also learned to play guitar and with darts, knit and sew, make candles, and puzzles and paper mache, do ballet and chess, and pottery and ventriloquy.

It had been Mother Gothel who suggested that Rapunzel use her painting abilities to decorate the walls of the tower. Whenever Rapunzel got sick, Mother Gothel would spend days and nights at her side, bringing her entertainment, and convincing her to eat the food she made. Finally, there were the white shells Mother Gothel brought from a three day journey, just so Rapunzel could have a nice shade of yellow paint.

'I love you. I love you more. I love you most,' the words that still haunt her, and she is still not sure they're entirely untrue, but there is no use dwelling on the past.

Rapunzel has a whole new world to explore now, and she wished the man she loved, Eugene Fitzherbert, was around to do that with her. At first, Rapunzel was very afraid Eugene would still be punished for all the crimes he committed as Flynn Rider. Especially if he received the death penalty, but she managed to tell her parents that it was Eugene who saved her from Mother Gothel and brought her back to the kingdom. Eugene was immediately granted a pardon of all those crimes, so he wouldn't be facing death, or any time in jail, but he still needed to prove he was a changed man.

He decided to enlist in the Royal Guard, but it required taking many lessons, for which he was at first hesitant, but then went through with them. For the first year, the couple did their best to spend time with each other while Rapunzel had her princess lessons, and Eugene had his own with the Royal Guard. After he finally finished his lessons, Eugene had to be sent off for a year to visit the neighboring kingdoms. Rapunzel was disappointed that Eugene would be missing two special events that will take place in Corona this year: her very first royal ball, for which the lessons she was taking were to have her prepared and ready.

Rapunzel had hoped Eugene could have been able to come, but she's sure to still have a royal escort for the ball. There also happens to be her birthday, for which she spent her last one with Eugene in a boat to finally see the floating lanterns. Before, the King and Queen and all the people in the kingdom released thousands of those lanterns in hope that their lost princess would return. Now that she has returned, this time, everyone will join together in the palace courtyard to dance and release the lanterns in joy and happiness. Suddenly, Rapunzel heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." She said, and a servant entered the room and did a curtsy before speaking to Rapunzel.

"Good morning, Princess!" The servant said cheerfully. "Did you have a good night sleep?"

"Yes, I did." Rapunzel replied while nodding.

"Well, that's good. Now, you should get dressed, because your parents want to talk to you." The servant explained.

"This early?" Rapunzel asked. "Yes, dear. It seems very important." The servant replied.

"Okay then. I'll get dressed." Rapunzel immediately got up, and walked to her bathroom to get cleaned up, while the servant worked on the bed, rearranging it with fresh, clean sheets.

After Rapunzel had a shower, and wrapped herself in a plush towel, she went to her drawer and found a new pink dress to wear. When the servant had finished making the bed, she led Rapunzel out of her bedroom, down the grand stairs, and the hall to the dining room. When Rapunzel arrived, she saw her parents, King Frederic and Queen Arianna, smiling, while sitting side by side at the table. Rapunzel took a seat across from her parents, and happily greeted them. "Good morning, mom and dad!" Rapunzel said.

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" Queen Arianna kindly asked.

"I'm great. The servant said there's something you both wanted to talk to me about?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes dear. Now, have you heard of Berk?" King Frederic asked.

Rapunzel shook her head. "No, dad, what is Berk?" She asked.

"It's an island, a village where a tribe of vikings live. A month ago, one of them, who happens to be the chief of the tribe, visited our kingdom. See, he told us that, for the past 300 years, their island has been plagued by attacks from dragons that steal their livestock and burn their buildings. Then, on one night, while an attack was happening very early in the morning, a young viking, who happens to be the chief's son, decided he was going to capture and kill a dragon for the very first time, so he could show the tribe that he was a true viking.

He wanted to catch the most rare and intelligent dragon, which is called the Night Fury, and with the help of an invention he made himself, he was able to capture this dragon. Though it took a long time, he found it trapped in his invention, and so he got out a knife, taking small steps to make sure if it was still alive, and it was. Just before he was about to lower the knife, he took one look at the dragon's eyes, and he just couldn't do it. He set the dragon free, and while the dragon soon cornered him, it decided not to kill the viking either.

The viking and the dragon soon started a friendship, and together, the viking discovered the truth behind the dragons' raid of his village: they were stealing the livestock to bring over to another island to a dragon that was bigger than all of them. They realized that the dragons were forced to feed the big dragon from what they steal from Berk, or else, the big dragon ate them instead. The viking and his dragon immediately came up with a plan to defeat this big dragon, and later they did, and after that, the dragons became pets and companions for everyone in the village, and it's been a whole year since that happened." King Frederic explained.

"So all of that happened because the chief's son wouldn't kill a dragon?" Rapunzel asked.

"That's right, and what's more is, later today, he and his pet dragon are not only coming to our kingdom to visit, but they're staying with us." Queen Arianna said.

"Really? For how long?" Rapunzel asked.

"About a year." King Frederic answered.

"I can't wait to meet them!" Rapunzel replied cheerfully.

"Which is why we have a task for you." Queen Arianna said.

"Okay, so what is it?" Rapunzel asked.

"Your task is to make sure that they're having a good time here at all times, that they feel comfortable and relaxed while they're here. You'll introduce them to the people of the kingdom and show them to all the shops and activities." King Frederic said.

"Mom, dad, don't worry, I promise I'll do this task right," Rapunzel said, while she went over and gave both her parents a hug.

"By the way, do the viking and dragon have a name?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes, the viking's name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock The Third, and his dragon's name is Toothless." Queen Arianna answered.

"Why is the dragon named Toothless?" Rapunzel asked.

"Sorry dear, we don't know. You'll have to ask Hiccup when they arrive." King Frederic replied.

"Okay then, I'll do that." Rapunzel said, and then walked back up to her room.

When she laid down on her bed, Pascal, the chameleon who was her best friend, suddenly crawled up the bed post and laid down next to her face.

"I guess you got a good night's sleep, huh?" Rapunzel asked. Pascal happily squeaked, which obviously meant yes.

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling great, because we'll be having guests coming over to stay with us!" Pascal suddenly jumped up in excitement.

"I know, it's great, especially because I'll have something to do to keep myself busy while Eugene is away." Rapunzel said.

She soon started to think about the viking. "Hmm...Hiccup...now that sounds like a cute name for a boy..."


	6. Destination Reached

As they flew across the waves of the water, Hiccup and Toothless were both enjoying the majestic scenery. The clouds looked as if someone had painted them across the sky, and they reflected down onto the ocean, which looked glassy in the sunlight. Hiccup kept thinking about how it's going to be when he and his best friend meet the Princess and her family.

"I really hope they all like Toothless, because that would be great!" Hiccup thought to himself. "I wonder if I should take the Princess on a flight. While I don't think Astrid would be happy about it if I did, but I'm sure the Princess would love this! You know, being up high in the sky, being able to touch the clouds, and see all the amazing colors. Although it wouldn't be a date. It would only happen just to prove that dragons are friendly and can help us with anything." Hiccup suddenly stopped thinking when Toothless roared.

"What is it, bud?" Hiccup asked, and when he looked up, he saw they were getting close to a craggy hillside, and decided to land there.

As soon as they did, Hiccup carried the basket with one hand while Toothless walked by his side.

"Maybe the princess has a pet of her own. If she does, then I'm hope Toothless will get along with him or her," Hiccup thought.

After a few hours of walking through the forest, Toothless' ears suddenly perked up, as he heard the sound of trees moving and people talking. Toothless lightly growled, as the sounds were coming closer, so close Hiccup could hear them, and he put down the basket he was carrying and put his hand on Toothless' nose.

"Don't worry, bud. I'm sure it's nothing." Hiccup said.

Suddenly, a group of three men came out of some bushes, and were now facing the young viking and his pet dragon. Hiccup and Toothless saw that they were all wearing armor and helmets that looked very different, especially because they had an image of a sun on them. They were also wearing white gloves and black boots. One of them then came forward and took a scroll from his pocket and unrolled it.

"Are you Hiccup Horrendous Haddock The Third?" The guard asked. "Yes, that's me." Hiccup said, while nodding.

"We are the Royal Guard of the Kingdom of Corona, and we have been instructed from the royal family to bring you to their castle, which is where you will be staying with the King and Queen and their daughter, the Princess, for exactly an entire year."

Hiccup's eyes widened, as he didn't know until now that he was going to stay with the Princess and her family.

Hiccup snapped out of it when another guard asked if he was alright. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine." Hiccup said.

"Now then, if you could follow us, we'll reach our destination in no time." One of the guards said.

Much later, the sounds of the kingdom began to ring in the distance. When Hiccup and Toothless heard the sound, they went to find the source, as they both darted to the crest of a nearby hill, and in front of them, lay a kingdom that was more amazing than anything they could have ever imagined. Bordered by a body of crystal-blue water, an elegant castle sparkled in the sun, flags flying from the top of its many spires. A village of lovely stone and wood cottages and small bridges nestled at its base. Hiccup began to believe that living in the Kingdom of Corona would be so better than living at a village where it snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three.

"Excuse me?" A guard asked.

Hiccup turned around and saw the guards over by a bridge.

"Once we cross this bridge, we're at the kingdom." The guard said.

Hiccup and Toothless went over and followed the guards across the bridge made of white bricks. Once they reached the kingdom's gates, they began to walk on the cobblestone streets, and Hiccup looked around and saw that Corona had more buildings than Berk has now. There are so many thatched- roofed houses and inviting shops.

He also noticed everyone in the village, young and old, male and female, human and animal, were staring at him and Toothless, at least until a guard told everyone to get back to what they were even doing. After a while of walking up the streets, Hiccup and Toothless and the guards made it to the large door of the castle, and the guards knocked on the door. A few minutes later, the door opened and standing in front of them were the King and Queen of the kingdom.

"Thank you for bringing them here, gentlemen. We'll take it from here," King Frederic told the guards.

They all nodded and started walking back to the village.

"Now then, as you know, we've been expecting, well, both of you. So please come in," King Frederic said.

"You don't mind having a dragon in your castle, sir?" Hiccup asked.

The Queen shook her head. "Of course not. As long as it doesn't eat anything that's not food and it doesn't make a mess." Queen Arianna said.

"Yes, ma'am. I promise I'll keep an eye on Toothless." Hiccup agreed.

"By the way, why is your dragon's name 'Toothless'?" King Frederic asked.

"Maybe we should sit down somewhere so you'll both know not just that, but so much more too." Hiccup replied.

Both the King and Queen nodded and let Hiccup and Toothless in, and then closed the door. Hiccup was amazed as he looked around the castle. It was magnificent, especially since he saw it had many pictures and paintings across the walls.

Finally, they all came to the dining room, and both the eyes of the young viking and his dragon widened when they saw it. The table had the size to feed about fifty people. The King and Queen each took a seat on the right, while Hiccup took a seat from the left, and Toothless had laid down on the carpet near him. They didn't know about his new leg, at least not yet, since he had it hidden in another boot he was wearing.

"Wait a minute, our princess should be here too. I'm sure she'll want to know everything. Rapunzel!" King Frederic shouted.

The King and Queen got out of their chairs to stand, while Hiccup did the same. Just about five minutes passed before the Princess came in their sight. Hiccup could not believe his eyes of the young woman he was looking at.

She had slender, green eyes, and short brown hair just like him. She was wearing a purple dress with long pink sleeves and a lavender corset. Finally, she was barefoot, which Hiccup thought was very odd. Rapunzel was now standing in front of him.

"Rapunzel, I'd like you to meet who we were talking about earlier today.

This is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and this is Toothless, his dragon." Queen Arianna told her daughter.

When Rapunzel stuck out her hand, Hiccup just looked confused.

"You're supposed to shake her hand. It's how people greet each other." King Frederic acknowledged.

Hiccup immediately went out and shook the Princess' hand.

"It's very nice to meet you." Rapunzel said softly.

Hiccup slightly blushed when he heard the Princess' voice.

"I wonder if she has a great singing voice." Hiccup thought.

Rapunzel went over and had a seat between her mother and father. The King and Queen both sat down, as well as Hiccup.

"First of all, I named the dragon Toothless because of his retractable teeth. Is there anything else you want to know?" Hiccup asked.

Rapunzel raised her hand. "What's it like now having dragons as your pets?" She asked.

"It's great! We can fly anywhere with them. Now, we feel very safe when they're around. They can protect us, no matter what." Hiccup answered.

"Please, Hiccup. Tell us your story. How did you end the three hundred war between vikings and dragons?" Queen Arianna asked.

Hiccup began the story of what happened five years ago, first with how he caught Toothless with the bolas-cannon shooting contraption he made, along with the many other inventions he came up with. Why he decided not to kill him, and let him go. How he and Toothless slowly started to trust each other, and developed a make-shirt harness and prosthetic tail that allows him to guide the dragon in free flight. How his experiences with Toothless were able to transfer to the classes of dragon training with the other species of dragons. What the real reason was for why all those dragons have been raiding their village for so long, and finally, his plan to defeat the giant dragon that was controlling them. By the time Hiccup had finished the story, it was beginning to be dark outside.

"Well, that was a very great story. I still can't believe that it's all true." King Frederic said.

"Rapunzel, I think it's time we show Hiccup the room where he'll be staying, don't you think?" Queen Arianna asked her daughter.

"Yes! Absolutely." Rapunzel said cheerfully.

"Hiccup, please bring your things, and follow us." Queen Arianna said.

Hiccup nodded, and grabbed his basket.

"C'mon bud, we're going upstairs." Hiccup told to his dragon, who was by his side, as they followed the Princess and her parents up the grand stairs.


	7. Royal Treatment

"Mr. Haddock, I hope that you and your dragon will find the room we chose for your accommodations to come to your satisfaction." Queen Arianna said, only to receive a look a confusion on Hiccup's face.

"I'm sorry to be rude, but I didn't really understand what you just said. Back at my village, I've never heard anyone talk like that before." Hiccup replied.

"What my mother meant to say when she said that was we hope you and Toothless will like the room that you'll be staying in for the year." Rapunzel responded.

"I think me and Toothless should at least see what our room looks like first if we're going to be sure about that." Hiccup mentioned.

"Oh, both of you have absolutely nothing to worry about, because every room in this castle has impressively beautiful qualities, which makes each of them very special to us." King Frederic explained.

"That's good to know, and I hope one of these qualities is that they have enough space for a dragon, because in Berk, Toothless always had to stay outside my house to get a good night's sleep." Hiccup said.

"Really? Dragons have finally become your friends in Berk, but not any of the houses can fit a dragon, especially yours? It must be a disappointment for them not to be with their human every night." Rapunzel replied.

"The dragons don't really mind at all, and besides, it's much better that way. While the island became a home for the dragons, every house is more of a home for only the Vikings, and the only place that can fit everyone altogether is the Great Hall." Hiccup said.

"What's the Great Hall? Is that place an enormous hallway, just like the ones that we have right here in this castle?" Rapunzel asked, and what she got after asking that was look of bafflement on the faces of both Toothless and Hiccup.

"No, Rapunzel, it's not a hallway. It's actually a large building which is served for a multitude of purposes. It's for talking, eating, drinking, and having a meeting." Hiccup explained.

"Well then, it seems like you're quite lucky to be in Corona, because the kingdom definitely has a lot of buildings for everyone to do all of those things." Rapunzel mentioned.

"Great. Me and Toothless can't wait to see what Corona has to offer while we're staying here. Anyway, have we reached our room yet or do we still need to keep going?" Hiccup asked.

"It's good that all of us had been talking to keep ourselves busy while finding it, because we finally made it to your new room, Hiccup. Are you and Toothless ready to see it?" Rapunzel questioned.

"I sure do know that I am! What about you, bud?" Hiccup asked, turning over to face his scaly friend, who kindly gave a short growl as a response.

King Frederic came toward the door and once he had opened it, both the Viking and his dragon were simply amazed, because they had never seen a room like this before in their lives. Even though the bedroom did have much more space than the one Hiccup had back in Berk, the very first thing that he immediately noticed was the bed to the left side. It was a four-poster bed which had decorative fabric draped across the upper space between the posts and a solid swath of cloth that created a canopy directly over the bed. Hiccup could also see a door that was over on the right side, and it instantly peaked at his curiosity.

"Could someone please happen to tell me what's behind that door?" Hiccup asked.

"It leads the way to your very own personal bathroom, Mr. Haddock. You can have either a shower or a bath, and I'm sure the warm water will come useful with both of them." Queen Arianna answered.

"Would it be alright for me to show you and Toothless around the room? You've only heard just one thing about the room that makes it so special." Rapunzel suggested.

She was about to walk even further into Toothless and Hiccup's room when someone had laid a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder to keep her from going another step.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I'm afraid that there's isn't much time for that right now because it's very late and that's why we should get back to our own bedrooms and get some sleep." King Frederic mentioned.

"Yes, dad. I'm sorry, but it's just always so exciting to have a new visitor come to our kingdom! Hiccup and Toothless must be so tired and exhausted." Rapunzel replied.

"Before you guys go, I'd like to thank you for being so nice and understanding about all of this. What I mean by that is all of you being okay with me and my best friend staying here in your kingdom." Hiccup kindly said.

"Your welcome, Mr. Haddock. You seem to be such a sweet young man to say that, and so we'll make sure to have everyone treat in Corona you and your dragon with the utmost respect." Queen Arianna responded.

"Thank you very much, and good night." Hiccup said, while giving a bow to be polite and thoughtful for them.

"Good night, and enjoy your brand new room, Mr. Haddock." The King and Queen both said at the same time before closing the door.

Once the door was shut, Toothless instantly found a good space on the floor to lay down, and soon he was quickly down and out, sleeping like a hard rock. Hiccup raised one of his arms and quickly gave a sniff of his body odor, and even though it wasn't that bad, and it usually never was, he still felt that it wouldn't be so early to get himself fresh and clean. Cleanliness was obviously an important thing to Hiccup, because during the time he grew up in Berk, he would take a bath three or four times each week. Hiccup had always known that if anyone ever did find out, people would make fun of him, and that's why he was so worried when Astrid had asked him about it.

While she did uproariously laugh at first, Astrid gave Hiccup a deep kiss and told him that she really didn't have any complaints about it at all. Snotlout and Tuffnut had also found out about Hiccup's bathing habits, and seemed to take great delight –especially Snotlout- in making fun of him, telling him that he was being girly, to which Hiccup invariably retorted that, as far as he was concerned, he didn't smell like a crate of two-years old fishes that even dragons would not consider edible, and that he was the one who had Astrid for a girlfriend, and Snotlout usually would visibly deflate at that.

When Hiccup opened the door to the bathroom and slowly walked inside, he was really blown away with the bathroom's marvelous features. It had a large private cast iron bathtub with porcelain interior on a "claw foot" pedestal, which was much different than the ones that they used to bathe in Berk. The bathtubs that the Vikings used were also constructed by them with wooden staves and steel bands very much like a very large barrel, and the staves were usually made of redwood, cedar, or teak. The floor was created with many tiles of the same shape and size making a remarkable hexagon pattern, which Hiccup thought was pretty neat and nifty.

Hiccup walked over to take a look at the huge rectangle-shaped mirror which had enough space for both him and Toothless to see their reflection at the same time. In fact, Toothless could be able to feel free and go around the bathroom, just as long as he was careful and didn't accidentally break anything. Hiccup saw on top of the drawer that there were a lot of things that he had never seen before, which included face cloths, bars of soap, and bottles of shampoo, body lotion, bath foam, and conditioner. The Viking walked over to the bathtub and saw two glass knobs connected to it, with one of them having a capital letter 'H' in the color of bright red, while the other featured a capital 'C' in the color of light blue.

Hiccup quickly knew what the colored letters meant, which were hot and cold, so since he obviously wanted a nice, warm bath, Hiccup turned the 'H' knob on the left until water started to come out and into the tub. Hiccup did the same routine with taking off his clothing, starting with his fur vest, and then his green tunic, both his fur boots, one that was covering his right foot, and the other, which was covering his prosthetic leg. He also took off his brown belt, and brown pants, and then his underwear. Finally, Hiccup carefully removed his prosthetic, and he safely left it on the ground, while he laid his clothes in an organized pile on the drawer.

The dragon rider got himself into the white tub by raising the half of his left leg and then his right foot before he was finally settled and comfortable. Yes, Hiccup thought as he smiled to herself and let all the muscles of his body relax into the warm, welcoming water in the bathtub. For a good moment of time, which was about ten minutes, Hiccup stayed in a cool, calm, and collected position while keeping his eyes closed before he felt that he was good and ready to come out. Before he did that, Hiccup pulled out the cork from the bottom of the tub to have the water drained through the pipes from beneath the floors of the castle.

To dry himself off, he used a long towel, which was a great combination of being soft, smooth, quite fluffy, and put on a bathrobe which was just as light and comfortable. Hiccup grabbed his clothes from the drawer and his prosthetic from off the hexagon-tiled floor, and once he had just walked out of the bathroom, Hiccup heard a knock on the door, which was quick and not so loud, but he was sure that he had heard it. He took a short moment to reattach his prosthetic before going over and opening the door, and he was expecting that it was King Frederic or Queen Arianna, or it could have been both of them behind the door, but to his surprise, this person wasn't either of them. It happened to be their young daughter, Rapunzel, who seemed to have a mixed look of worry and excitement on her face, which obviously caused much concern for Hiccup.

"Rapunzel, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" Hiccup asked, and Rapunzel shook her head before giving a response back to him.

"No, Hiccup, nothing's wrong. Even though it's very late, and not really such a good time, it's just that I wanted to check up on you, and see how you were doing in your new room and... oh my gosh! Hiccup, what happened to your left leg?" Rapunzel asked, while looking down at Hiccup's prosthetic leg.

"It's really a long story, but if you would like to know what happened, please do come in, but just make sure not to wake up Toothless, even though he's a heavy sleeper." Hiccup replied, while having the door open for her.

Being very careful, Rapunzel had slowly started to make her way through the door, and once she was inside the room, Hiccup quietly closed the door before walking over to her.


	8. What Once Was Mine

"Rapunzel, I hope you don't mind, but before we talk, I'd really like to change into a set of different clothes for when I go to bed later tonight." Hiccup said.

"Of course, and I promise that I'll make sure not to wake up Toothless while I wait here on this bed for you to change and come back." Rapunzel replied.

Hiccup gave a smile before he grabbed his clothes from the bed, from which he had laid them down on, and walked over to the bathroom, and once he was inside, Hiccup closed the door behind him. While Hiccup was changing in the bathroom, Rapunzel kept herself occupied by quietly watching Toothless, and she soon became simply fascinated with the deep and heavy cat-like sound he was making. Less than five minutes have passed before Hiccup eventually came out of the bathroom, which captured Rapunzel's attention with the sound of the door opening, as she instantly turned her head to see him.

Hiccup was barefoot while wearing a long white shirt and pants that were also the colour of white, and he made his way over to the bed, trying to be as silent as he could, but that was actually impossible with the prosthetic foot squeaking with every step he took. Rapunzel couldn't help but let out a few giggles from hearing the squeaks from the prosthetic, since she thought it sounded a little funny, but she instantly soon felt bad about doing so, because the prosthetic was the exact thing that she wanted Hiccup to tell her about. Hiccup sat down on the bed and took a deep breath for himself and a short glance before turning around to face Rapunzel and start having a conversation with her.

"Do you remember when I told you and your parents about the time when me and Toothless were fighting against the giant dragon known as the Red Death?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, I remember and it was an amazing story to hear, and why do you ask? Was there anything else that you forgot to tell while you were talking about that part of the story?" Rapunzel replied.

"No, I didn't forget. It's just that I decided not to include a certain moment, and it happened after we managed to defeat the Red Death, but since you want to know of what happened to my leg, I'd like to tell you about the events leading up to it first, but only if you don't mind at least." Hiccup responded.

"I don't mind, Hiccup. Please, I'd like to hear everything." Rapunzel said right before she just stayed silent, while having her legs crossed, and nodding again, and she kept Hiccup continue on with what he was talking about to her.

"Even though I tried to steer Toothless away, the prosthetic tail that I made for him had caught on fire from the Red Death unleashing a long stream from its' mouth, and the brief sound told me all I needed to know: we didn't have much time left! An idea had stuck me. Maybe I could trick the Red Death into crashing into the ground, and I would still need a way to make sure it died, however. We had managed to get the Red Death's attention before making the fastest dive we had ever performed and cleared the ash cloud and saw the ground approaching fast, but not fast enough.

Even worse, the Red Death was gaining once more, and the smoldering holes in its wings were having no effect on its descent, and so I raced once again for an idea, and I came up with something. While the Red Death may have been fireproof on the outside, it couldn't be on the inside too, and just when the the Red Death had closed in on us, with the loud hiss of gas building up to blast us from its' mouth, I yelled out "Now" to Toothless. That's when he instantly flipped around in midair, so we were flying backwards, facing the Red Death's open mouth.

With his last shot, Toothless launched a blue fireball right in the massive ball of green gas that was forming in the Red Death's mouth, and it had the desired effect with starting to ignite and cook the insides of the big dragon's insides. The Red Death's eight eyes widened as the gas inside it ignited, creating a large, deadly fireball in its throat, and the Red Death's throat caught on fire and slowly began to started to explode from the inside out! It spread its wings out and tried to slow down its fall, but to no avail, with but its wings were tearing, and several holes had ripped through the membrane.

We were suddenly being dragged back almost right into the monster's jaws, but luckily, Toothless barely managed to avoid it and all of the hot air blew us higher up into the air! The Red Death hit the beach headfirst, creating a massive explosion that rocked the entire island, with fire beginning to consume it. Toothless flapped both sets of wings furiously, while all I could do was hang on and steer him through the spikes as the flames kept getting closer and closer!

The material on Toothless' artificial fin finally succumbed to the fire, and my heart skipped a beat as the cloth was torn off, leaving behind only the metal frame. However, we still had enough momentum going to get us clear and, with care, glide to the ground, but however, I didn't anticipate the Red's Death massive clubbed tail headed straight for us. I tried to swerve us out of the way, praying that it would just pass over, but it was too late as the large and bulbous tail impacted heavily on our left side, throwing me off of the saddle. Everything went dark after that, but not before I felt something wrap around my entire body, but I didn't know what it was at the time because I had already been knocked out by the club on the dragon's tail." Hiccup finished, and took a long breath after talking for so long.

"So I guess that it must have been Toothless who had protected you from the fire by using his wings to cover you up." Rapunzel said, assuming that's what happened.

"Yes, and every day, I'm so grateful to know that he was willing to sacrifice his own life to save mine, because if it wasn't for him doing that, I probably wouldn't be here right now." Hiccup replied, while turning to give a smile at his sleeping scaly friend.

"Hiccup, you're very lucky to have Toothless as a best friend, but what I still don't understand is how part of your left leg had managed to get so badly injured. Do you know what happened?" Rapunzel wondered.

"Rapunzel, to be honest, I'm still not sure what happened to my leg. My dad hasn't told me and I haven't asked him. There's a certain amount of things that could have happened between the time the Red Death's tail knocked us out of the sky and the time my dad found us crumpled on the ground, and I'd rather not speculate. If Toothless had anything, anything at all to do with it, he did it because there wasn't any other way." Hiccup explained.

"Don't worry, Hiccup. I completely understand that. So exactly how long were you unconscious, and during that time, were you able to feel any pain when they got rid of the injured part of your leg and attached a prosthetic?" Rapunzel asked, while she was surprised with herself for even asking such questions.

"I might have been knocked out for about a month or maybe even less than that, and yes, the pain I felt from the operation, was quite unbearable for me to handle. As soon as I started walking on the prosthetic, I knew that it was going to take a while for me to get used to it. No matter what, Toothless was always there for me whenever I had any sort of trouble, and especially when I'm sleeping the prosthetic would suddenly cause so much pain which would leave me in sweat and screaming in the middle of the night. I also remember having nightmares of the battle with the Red Death on most nights with each and every one of them starting from the moment that me and Toothless were leading the Red Death into the ground, but after I woke up, Toothless would make sure to help me feel better." Hiccup answered.

"Hiccup, you should know that I used to have many nightmares that would cause for me to be either crying or screaming." Rapunzel mentioned, and what she just said had captured the Viking's interests.

"Really, and do you still remember what your nightmares were about. I mean, if they made you scream and cry, did any of them include thunder and lightning or any scary monsters?" Hiccup asked, and then he felt quite stupid for saying those things, because he didn't want to have Rapunzel scared.

"No, they were usually about my hair, and even though you're probably not going to believe this, but I didn't really grow up with my hair always being short and brown. As long as you don't mind, I'd like to explain how it was different." Rapunzel requested, to which Hiccup responded by giving a simple nod.

"A very long time ago, a drop of sunlight fell to the ground and grew into a magical golden flower with healing abilities. One day, an elderly woman named Gothel found the flower and discovered its' powers when she sang to it. She was determined to keep this secret from the rest of the world and hid the flower to keep herself beautiful and young forever, as hundreds of years passed, and in that time a nearby kingdom prospered. Sadly, the young Queen fell deathly ill while pregnant, and soon the entire kingdom searched for a cure, but eventually a few guards had managed to find the flower and Gothel was powerless to stop them.

After drinking a broth made from the flower, the Queen was cured and the flower's abilities were given to her unborn child, which resided in her unusually long golden hair, and to celebrate the birth, the King and Queen released a floating lantern into the sky. In the middle of nighttime, Gothel carefully broke into the royal couple's room and sneaked to the baby's crib. When she tried to cut a lock of the baby's hair, Gothel saw that the hair turned brown and lost its power. Gothel decided to kidnap the infant instead and the King and Queen were awakened by their baby, but it was too late, and for many months, the people of the kingdom searched and searched, but they could never find their princess.

Gothel had isolated the baby in a hidden tower far away from the rest of the world, and raised her as her own daughter, while refusing to let the girl go outside, telling her the world was a dangerous place where people would try to hurt her and use her gift for themselves. Every year on the girl's birthday for the next eighteen years, her parents and the people of the kingdom released thousands of lanterns into the sky, in the hope that the lost princess would return one day, and luckily she did." Rapunzel finished.

"So in order for Gothel to receive the magic from your hair at anytime, what needed to happen?" Hiccup asked, while he was still in amazement that Rapunzel used to have long, blonde hair which was magical.

"The person must have themselves in physical contact with the hair in order for the magic to work when someone sings the song, and the hair also emitted a glowing light when the magic worked, and the song goes like this," Rapunzel said before singing the healing incantation.

Flower gleam and glow

Let your power shine

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Heal what has been hurt

Change the fate's design

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

What once was mine

Hiccup was left absolutely stunned in amazement from hearing Rapunzel's voice for a while, and then he soon snapped out of it when Rapunzel kept calling his name for a few times.

"Are you okay, Hiccup? It looked like you just didn't seem yourself for a moment there. Could it have been my singing, because I'm usually great at it. Pascal and my parents always look happy when they hear my voice." Rapunzel assumed.

"Yes, Rapunzel, I'm just great, and you really do have a wonderful voice. That's why I wasn't so focused for you to have my attention. I'm sorry for making you think otherwise." Hiccup replied.

"Thank you, Hiccup, and it's good to know that because now I can officially add you to the incredibly long list of people in Corona who enjoy hearing me sing, and if you want, whenever you're not in a good mood, I could sing to make you feel better, at least, if you think that it would help." Rapunzel suggested.

"I'm sure that it would, but I really don't think that it's necessary right now, but wait, do you actually have that kind of list? Did it take a long time for you to make it?" Hiccup asked.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that part I said about the list was all just a joke. Even though I'm the princess of the kingdom, I'm sure that everyone would like my singing even if I wasn't a part of royalty." Rapunzel answered.

"How did you finally get yourself to not only leave that tower in the woods but also escape that woman who kidnapped you from your parents? Did you have anybody help you out?" Hiccup asked.

"While I did get plenty of encouragement from Pascal over the years, it wasn't until in one day before my birthday came, when a famous thief known as Flynn Rider had chosen to sneak into the tower to hide because he had stolen my crown from this castle. He had kept the crown in a satchel, and after I knocked him out with a frying pan, I was able to hide it under the staircase to my room, and have him tied up in a chair with my hair being tangled all around him. After talking for a while, we had managed to make a deal with each other, which was for Flynn to take me to see the lanterns and safely return me back to the tower, and only then I would give his satchel back to him." Rapunzel explained.

"Rapunzel, do you know whatever happened to Flynn? Did he keep your crown and run away or did he get sent back here to serve his punishment?" Hiccup asked, wanting to know much more about what's happened in Rapunzel's life.

"I would love to stay and tell you, but I think that it's time for me to go back to my room and get some much needed sleep, and I'm sure that you should too." Rapunzel mentioned.

"Yes, you're right, and Rapunzel, I just have to say that it was very nice for us to stay up and talk with each other, so thank you very much." Hiccup replied, while showing another one of his lopsided grins.

"Your welcome, and I'm so glad that we'll get to have a lot more conversations like this while you and Toothless are staying here with us. Goodnight." Rapunzel said, giving the Viking a quick hug before she walked over and closed the door behind her.

Hiccup took off his prosthetic and left it near the bed before getting into the sheets, and he eventually had gone to sleep, while having all of the things that Rapunzel told him in his mind.


	9. Big Breakfast

Hiccup made a great big yawn and stretched out his arms when he started to wake up, and eventually realized that the bed he was in during his sleep last night felt much more comfortable for him than the one in his bedroom back on Berk. It was completely constructed out of wood except for the pillow and blanket, and there was only one of each with those, but this bed not only featured two extra pillows, but also a lot of sheets and blankets, which made it quite easy and relaxed for Hiccup. He looked up to check and see if Toothless was still sleeping or not, and to the Viking's surprise, his dragon suddenly came out from the left side of his bed, gently nudging Hiccup with his snout then put his paws up and started licking my face completely overjoyed at seeing me awake.

"It's nice to see you too, bud, even though we were only a few feet from each other. Good morning." Hiccup said, while wrapping his arms around his dragon's neck, and he suddenly remembered that if Toothless put any more of his weight to the bed, it could start to be destroyed.

"Toothless, please, you have to get off the bed, because we wouldn't want to give a bad message to the royal family by ruining the room that we're staying in." Hiccup reminded, and the Night Fury kindly obeyed with carefully getting himself off Hiccup's bed.

"Thanks, buddy, and just to let you know, while you were asleep, the Princess of the kingdom made a visit to our room last night, and the two of us ended up talking for what felt like forever, and she seemed really nice, so you don't really need to worry about me spending time with Rapunzel, because she's not like Astrid, at least, when you first met her." Hiccup said, as he got out of his bed, and attached his prosthetic right away.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be in the bathroom so that I can change", Hiccup added, before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Only a few minutes had passed by until Hiccup came out wearing his usual Viking attire, and he just put his folded pajamas back into the basket of his things when the door opened and Toothless immediately bared his teeth, growling, but he stopped when a woman appeared, but this time, she wasn't Rapunzel or even her mother, and the woman seemed to be wearing a nurse like uniform.

"Good morning, Mr. Haddock! It's good to see that you're already out of bed and all dressed up, so I suggest that you and your dragon should make your way down to the dining table in time for breakfast, and you don't need to worry about the bed, because it's my job to take care of that for you." The maid informed.

"Thanks, miss, it's really kind of you to do that, and c'mon, Toothless, let's bring ourselves downstairs before the food gets too cold for us to eat." Hiccup said, just as the maid took a few steps away from the door to let them go through.

Hiccup and Toothless made sure to be extra careful not to trip while going down the stairs, and once they approached the dining room table, the Viking and his dragon saw that both the King and Queen were already there and had taken a seat.

"Good morning, King and Queen of Corona. Wait, I'm sorry, that didn't sound right. What I meant to say to both of you is "Good morning, Your Royal Majesty." Hiccup greeted awkwardly, as he took a seat in one of the fifty chairs for the dinner table, and Toothless sat right by Hiccup's chair.

"Good morning to you, Mr. Haddock, and to your dragon as well. By the way, how about you just call us Frederic and Arianna, so it's not hard with using names for you." Queen Arianna suggested.

"I'd like to do that, but only if it's okay with you. I mean, wouldn't you think that it might be weird for me always calling you by your first names?" Hiccup asked.

"No, we don't mind at all, and besides, we want to make sure that during your stay in our kingdom, you'll be enjoying yourself and having a good time." King Frederic replied.

"Thank you, and I don't mean to change the subject or anything, but me and Toothless are pretty hungry, so when is the food going to come, and by the way, where's Rapunzel? Shouldn't she be here too, because I was hoping to talk with her a lot more." Hiccup responded.

"I'm guessing that our daughter snuck out of her room last night to give you a tour of your new room, and the two of you ended up talking for a long time. Mr. Haddock, wouldn't that be correct?" Queen Arianna assumed.

"No, Rapunzel didn't give any kind of tour, she just wanted to check up on me, and see how I was doing in my new room and then she noticed my leg, and she wanted to know what happened to it, so that's why I let her come inside, and before you know it, we talked for a while, and it was great." Hiccup answered.

"If you don't mind telling us, Mr. Haddock, what exactly happened to your leg to have Rapunzel so concerned about it?" King Frederic asked.

"After me and Toothless lead the Red Death up high enough into the clouds, Toothless' fake tail fin was set alight but he managed to shoot a blast of fire into the Red Death's mouth, setting its insides on fire. As the huge dragon crashed to the ground and exploded, I got knocked off when Toothless was unable to turn away from hitting the Red Death's tail, and he saved my life by diving into the inferno of the Red Death's body and wrapping me in his wings. To this day, I still don't know what happened to my leg for it to be cut off, like whether it caught on fire from the explosion, or if Toothless did something himself, but what I do know is that I'll always be grateful for him saving my life on that day." Hiccup explained.

"You're also very lucky to have him as your best friend too." Since it was neither the King or Queen who had said that, Hiccup turned his head to the right to see Rapunzel wearing her crown, a pink dress with short sleeves, and of course, no shoes, and he got up from his seat.

"Good morning, Rapunzel, you look beautiful. I enjoyed the talk that we had last night, so what about you, and did you have a good night's sleep?" Hiccup asked, and he soon became embarrassed that he said a lot of things, although it wasn't really the first time in which he talked that way.

"Thank you, Hiccup, and good morning to you as well. Yes, I did enjoy the conversation, and I kept thinking about all of things that you told me, so that's why I was hoping if after we've done with breakfast, we could go outside, and you could tell me a lot more about your life." Rapunzel suggested.

"Yes, we could do that, and while we're out, you wouldn't mind showing me and Toothless around Corona, because we'd like to see what your kingdom has to offer." Hiccup responded.

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your conversation, but perhaps the two of you should take a seat first, and that way, you'll both be able to have your breakfast, because I'm sure that it's going to be coming at any minute." Queen Arianna mentioned, while standing up in their direction.

"Right, and you don't need to worry about your chair, because I'll pull it out for you." Hiccup reminded, as he did exactly that, and not just Rapunzel, but also her parents were very pleased by Hiccup's act of kindness.

"Thank you, Hiccup, and it already seems like we're very lucky to have you staying here in our kingdom, because you're such a gentleman, and so I would love to show you and Toothless around today, but there's someone that I want you to meet. Pascal, could you please come out for me?" Rapunzel asked.

To Hiccup's surprise, a green chameleon suddenly appeared out from behind Rapunzel's neck, and he was now standing on the Princess' shoulder, and seemed to be speaking to her, as if she could actually understand what the small reptile was saying.

"Pascal, I would like you to meet the visitors who will be staying with us; the very first dragon rider, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, and his best friend, Toothless, who's also known as the rare Night Fury, and they've both come from the island of Berk, which is the home to the Viking tribe the Hairy Hooligans."

The chameleon immediately brought out one of his tiny hands for Hiccup to shake, for which he used two of his fingers from his left hand to do that.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Pascal. Although I can't say that we've heard a lot about you, I'm sure that all of us are going to have a lot of fun spending time together. We're just going to have breakfast, and then we'll be outside to enjoy the kingdom." Hiccup informed.

Pascal squeaked to Rapunzel again, but with a smile on his face this time, and from what he was seeing, Hiccup assumed that Rapunzel's friend would easily be getting along with not just him, but also with Toothless. When Hiccup looked down, he was surprised to see so much cutlery in front of him, as there were four forks on the left, with one of them being slightly taller than the others, as well as three knives, two spoons, and a different kind of utensil with two sharp ends used to pick up food.

"Rapunzel, I don't mean to bother you, but is it really necessary to have this much forks, knives, spoons, and mugs just for breakfast? Why have more than one anyway?" Hiccup asked, while he carefully leaned over to whisper those questions to her.

"My parents have told me many times that it's better to have more than one of something important, especially when you're having a meal, like if you were using a fork, but you accidentally dropped the fork onto the floor, then you could just pick up another one right in front of him." Rapunzel explained.

"That's a very smart idea, and I'm sure that would definitely be helpful in Berk, because the villagers have a tendency to drop things, but it's a shame that probably won't happen while I'm gone, since the blacksmith will only be used to make and adjust weapons, such as swords, axes, and knifes." Hiccup replied.

"Well, that's too bad, but in the meantime, you can be able to enjoy the use of multiple utensils for not just every breakfast, but also for every dinner too during your stay here in our kingdom for the year." Rapunzel reminded, while giving a bright smile in his direction.

"Yes, that's a good thing for me, and I can certainly be thankful for that. By the way, and I don't mean to sound impatient, but when is the food going to come so we can actually use the utensils, and does your kitchen carry fish, like salmon and Icelandic Cod?" Hiccup asked.

"You know, Hiccup, it doesn't take a long time for the food to come, so I think that all of us have arrived early, and of course, we carry all kinds of fish, but if you don't mind telling me, why did you mention those specific types, like do you just love to eat fish?" Rapunzel assumed.

"To be honest, Rapunzel, I was actually referring to Toothless, because I don't eat fish, or chicken, or even any other kind of meat at all. I've always disliked the taste of it, and it's a little sad though, since most of the villagers in Berk, if not the whole village, love to have meat." Hiccup answered.

"Hiccup, you don't need to worry about that, because we carry a lot more than just meat, I mean we have fruit, vegetables, bread, and dairy. I think that you'll probably might enjoy the food here in Corona so much that you'll want to take most of it back to Berk when you leave." Rapunzel suggested.

"I really hope I'll feel that way about the food, but I'll have to taste it first before I decide which to take back to Berk, and either way, I don't think that my basket will be able to fit any more things, because it's only big enough to carry all of the stuff that I needed for this trip." Hiccup responded.

Just as Rapunzel was about to give another reply back to Hiccup about what he said to her, a small group of servants, about five of them, came through swinging doors, and they were each carrying a large silver tray with a circular cover on top of it, and steam was coming out of all of them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, breakfast is served." One member of the kitchen staff announced, as he and the other servants lowered the silver tray that they were holding down in a lined up row in middle of the table, making it easy for Hiccup, Rapunzel, and both of her parents to help themselves.

"Your majesty, we apologize for the delay with the food, but we've wanted to make the breakfast for your kingdom's new guest even more special, which is why we've created five different meals for him, as well as for all of you to have." Another kitchen staff member explained.

The circular covers were soon taken off the silver trays, finally revealing what the food was to everyone, and a servant happily pointed out which was on each tray. "There's buttermilk pancakes, Belgian waffles, eggs Benedict, french toast, and finally, a combo of bacon and sausages."

"Enjoy," All of the servants said at once before beginning to walk back into the kitchen, and they quickly stopped when the group heard a voice from the table, which happened to belong to the proclaimed 'kingdom's new quest', and turned around to face him.

"Mr. Haddock, is there something else that you wanted?" One of the servants asked, and Hiccup stood up from his chair, while keeping himself in their direction, and turned to look at Toothless and rub him on his nose before giving a response back to the servant.

"Yes, but it's not me who wants something else, it's my dragon right here who's also hungry, so if it's not much too trouble, could you please bring one hundred of his favorite fish for him? Just so you know, he loves to eat salmon and Icelandic Cod." Hiccup requested.

"Consider it done, Mr. Haddock. We'll be back with your request for your dragon as soon as possible, so in the meantime, please enjoy the food that's already been set down on the table for you and the Royal Family." The servant answered, before going back into the kitchen.

"Wow, so Hiccup, is one hundred the usual amount of fish that you give to Toothless whenever he's hungry?" Rapunzel asked, as Hiccup sat down back in his seat.

"Yes, it is, Rapunzel, and luckily for him, we always have a bit of surplus of fish at the docks in Berk, so even a basketful missing would go completely unnoticed, so anyway I guess that with the food all cooked and ready in front of us, that we should start eating, right?" Hiccup asked.

"Right, and so I think now would be a good time to say something that I've learned in one of my lessons in the french language, Bon appétit." Rapunzel replied, before she and Hiccup began to pick out the food that they wanted to eat with the help of own their forks.


	10. Eugene's Story

"So, Hiccup, did you enjoy the food that was prepared for you, and have you already decided which became your favorites?" Rapunzel asked, and just after she said that, the five servants came back to the table, and picked up not just all of the silver trays, but also the dirty cutlery and plates.

"Except for the bacon and sausages, I enjoyed the food very much, but I'm not really sure of which are my favorites, and I guess that I'll have to taste them another time before I can be officially sure of which ones are a favorite of mine, but I'm sorry if that's the answer you were expecting." Hiccup added.

"It's okay, Hiccup, I understand that you need to take more time with that decision, and I should have known earlier, because while you were in Berk, you've probably never had any pancakes or waffles, or even eggs for that matter, right?" Rapunzel asked.

"We do have eggs, but none of the villagers have been able to make pancakes or waffles, but I'll make sure to tell them all about the food when I go back, so now that we've had our daily meal in the morning, how about we go outside so you can show me and Toothless around the kingdom?" Hiccup suggested.

"Of course, I don't see why not, since it would be great for all of us to get some fresh air, and I'm just gonna tell my parents that we'll be going outside, so if you don't mind, could you and your dragon please wait over by the front doors for me and Pascal?" Rapunzel requested.

"Sure, Rapunzel, I don't mind at all," Hiccup replied, and he turned around to face Toothless, who he could see was still licking his lips from his own personal breakfast of his favorite fish.

"Come with me, bud. We'll be going outside after Rapunzel talks with her parents." He said, looking Toothless in the eyes.

"Hey, Mom, Dad, would it be okay for me to show Hiccup and Toothless around the kingdom right now, and save the tour of the castle for later today? I know that we were supposed to have it much earlier, but I promised Hiccup, and you know that I never, ever break promises." Rapunzel mentioned.

"Yes, dear, I'm sure that Mr. Haddock would like to be given an early tour of the kingdom by the Princess herself, and since you did promise him, it wouldn't be a good idea to break it, so anyway, you don't want to keep him waiting, now do you?" Queen Arianna finished.

"Go on, show him a good time. Just so you know, we'll make sure to bring out some guards outside to find you, and let you know when it's time to come back here. That way, me and your mother can give a personal tour of the castle for Hiccup and his dragon before dinnertime." King Frederic added.

"Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad. You don't need to worry at all, because I'll remember the rules when I'm outside, I'll watch where I'm going, I won't ever be rude to anyone, and as my title of a princess, I must always be polite to them. I love you, and thanks again." Rapunzel said, before hugging both of them.

"We love you too, sweetheart." Queen Arianna replied, and Hiccup couldn't help but watch the affection happening between Rapunzel and her parents, and it caused him to think about his relationship with his father, but while it was in a good place, it still needed more time to get better and stronger.

Hiccup quickly got rid of the thoughts about his family when he saw Rapunzel approach him, and could also see Pascal happily squeaked while he stood on her shoulder, which meant that the chameleon was thrilled and excited to be going outside just as his longtime human friend was.

"I'm all ready to go, how about you?" Rapunzel asked, while giving a smile, to which Hiccup grinned back, and nodded at the same time, hoping that he wasn't acting too weird and awkward, but to his relief, she giggled, meaning that she didn't find his answer through his actions to be awful.

"Don't worry, Hiccup, I can easily tell that you're saying yes with those movements, which I thought was sweet, but I also think that it would be great to hear your voice too, right?" Rapunzel asked, and Hiccup instantly gulped, and cleared his throat to give a response with his words this time.

"Yes, Rapunzel, you're right, so since I am going to be staying in Corona for a year, I should really talk more often in order for myself to know new people and learn new things, but if you don't mind, how about I start with opening these large doors right in front of us?" Hiccup suggested.

"No, I don't mind at all, Hiccup, go right ahead!" Rapunzel cheerfully replied, and with that said, he pushed the doors out, and as all of them walked through the entrance, they could easily smell the fresh air and feel the warm temperature from the sunshine coming down on them.

"It's such a beautiful day, isn't it? The stores and shops are just getting set up to be open, especially the bookstores, and. . .oh, speaking of books, Hiccup, what do you say that we take a walk down to one while I pick up from where I left off last night about the notorious thief, Flynn Rider?" Rapunzel asked.

"Good idea, and I remember that you said while you were living in the tower, on the day before your birthday, Flynn had snuck into the tower, carrying a satchel with your crown inside, you knocked him out with a frying pan, hid the crown under the staircase, and tied him up in a chair with your hair, so what happened next?" Hiccup questioned.

"It depends on which is better for you, "Rapunzel answered, as they walked from the kingdom's doors to the town's cobblestone floor. "What I mean by that is, do you want to hear a short version or a long version of the story, because I know how to tell a good story, whether it's true or pure fiction."

"Even though I do like to hear a story, I want to hear the short version of this one, so that way, you could tell me the long version for another day, now please continue." Hiccup responded, while looking over in her direction, and having Toothless next to him on the left side of the town floor.

"Well, to be honest, I don't really know how to tell a short version of any story, so I'll just tell you a short part of the long version. I'm so sorry, Hiccup, but does that make any sense?" Rapunzel asked, while already thinking that Hiccup would be disappointed in her for kinda lying to him.

"Yes, it does, and besides, I'm sure that it could be hard for anyone else to tell a short version of any story, but it doesn't make you any less smart, or even a failure at all, it just means that you thought you at least tried to be good at something, but really couldn't." Hiccup replied.

"Thank you, Hiccup, hearing that makes me feel a lot better inside. I think that Eugene might have said something similar, and I can't help but miss him every time he gets brought up, and I'm sure that you want to know who Eugene is, considering this is the very first time I've mentioned him to you?" Rapunzel assumed, and waited until Hiccup gave a response, which was a nod of his head, before continuing.

"His full name is Eugene Fitzherbert, and he was an orphan during his childhood. Eugene spent all of his time with his fellow orphans in the orphanage, and the orphan children looked up to him greatly and Eugene was something of an older brother to them. Every night, Eugene would read them "The Tales of Flynnigan Rider", which were the stories of a rich and dashing swashbuckler who had an abundance of thrilling adventures wherever he went. The more times that Eugene read the book, the more he kept dreaming of a more audacious lifestyle and one day, he wanted to break out of his orphan upbringing for real.

Eugene eventually ventured out on his own and took the name of his childhood hero, growing up into not only a dashing swashbuckler, but also a gifted horseman. Flynn Rider became one of the most infamous thieves in all of Corona despite the fact that the original Flynn Rider from the book was not a thief. Flynn had a talent for getting himself out of any situation simply by flashing his famous smile, "the smolder" as he called it. Being drawn in more and more by his new ambition and becoming more and more aloof from the people around him, Flynn sought a solitary life filled with money and freedom, preferably on a far away island. He eventually became close to having everything he ever wanted, despite being on the run from almost every single person in the valley, so long story short, Eugene Fitzherbert grew up to become a slightly different version of his childhood hero, Flynn Rider." Rapunzel finished, and took a deep breath after talking for so long.

"So let me get this straight. Eugene Fitzherbert is a real person, who was an orphan. . .wait, I've actually never heard of that word before, so what is an orphan, by the way?" Hiccup asked, and he was already wondering if he would be hearing a lot more other words that he never knew about.

"You're an orphan when both of your parents die during the time you're a child, so basically, Eugene grew up not knowing who his real mother and father truly were, and he's never really had any interest in finding them, or at least, wanting to know more about them, so there you have it." Rapunzel explained.

"Okay then, so Eugene Fitzherbert is a real person, who was an orphan, and raised in an orphanage when he was a child, and while he was there, he loved to read a specific book about a rich adventurer, and the more he did, Eugene decided that he wanted to live a life just like him, and that's what he did, right?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, you got it, and I think that's going to be enough for now, so I'll save the next part of the story to tell at another time for you, especially because now that we've reached one of the bookstores, it would be a lot of fun for us to go inside, take a look around, and read some books to pass the time?" Rapunzel suggested.

"Of course," Hiccup replied, as the two of them, along with their reptile friends entered the bookstore, he was amazed to discover shelves that were completely stacked with books, and this was obviously new for him to be seeing, considering that the only book he could read on the island of Berk was the Dragon Manual.

"Good morning, Your Royal Highness! It's so nice of you to stop by and make a visit to this bookstore, so welcome, and if there's anything you'd like, please let me know, and oh. . .I can see that you've brought some friends along, and I assume that they must be the kingdom's new quests?" The bookstore owner asked.

"Yes, they are. I'd like you to meet Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and his dragon, the rare Night Fury whose name is Toothless, and he's also Hiccup's best friend too, but you have nothing to worry about with him, because Hiccup is a dragon tamer, who came from the island of Berk, and he'll be staying here for a year." Rapunzel introduced.

"That's great! Well then, Mr. Haddock, it's certainly nice not only to meet you, but also for you and your dragon to come inside this bookstore." The bookstore owner said, just before giving a smile and lending out his hand, to which Hiccup quickly remembered that he was supposed to shake it, and that's what he did, while smiling back.

"Anyway, Mr. Haddock, is there a certain book that you wanted me to find in here? Whatever it is, I'm sure that it wouldn't take a long time for me to get it for you." The bookstore owner offered, and was going to search the bookshelves, Hiccup slowly shook his head which stopped him from taking another step.

"Sir, it's very kind of you for wanting to do that, but I didn't even say what book I wanted, and since I've never seen so many books in my life, I wouldn't really know which to choose from, so if you don't mind, could you please recommend a good choice of books for me to read not just here, but anywhere too?" Hiccup requested.

"Yes, I can do that, so how about I show you one of the Princess' favorite kind, which happens to be fairy-tales, and they're an absolute must-read, whether you're male or female, young or old, they're the kind of stories that you'll want to read again and again, and that's why I'll give you a collection of them right now." The bookstore owner explained.

"Thank you very much, that would be wonderful." Rapunzel said, just before she, Hiccup, along with Pascal and Toothless, watched the bookstore owner check through the bookshelves, and pull out a book from a few of them, until he was carrying about eight of him in his hands, being in two pairs of four each.

"I hope that this is enough books for you, and the ones that I brought off the shelves are the German fairy-tales Snow White and The Frog Prince, French fairy-tales Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Danish fairy-tale the Little Mermaid, real-life tales Pocahontas, and Fa Mulan, and the Arabic tale Aladdin." The bookstore owner explained.

"Don't worry, it's plenty of books for us," Hiccup said, while taking a look at the books. "Now look, I don't want to get you upset or anything, but you don't really expect us to read all of these books right now? I'd still like the Princess to show me and my dragon a lot more than just a bookstore, if that's okay." Hiccup added.

"Of course, it's okay with me. Maybe it would be best to just read one of these books, so how about I let the two of you decide which one for you to read?" The bookstore owner, before carefully handing one pile of the books over to Rapunzel, while he gave the other half of them to Hiccup to hold, before going back to behind the counter.

"Thanks a lot for your help, sir! We really appreciate it!" Hiccup called out, as he, Rapunzel, and their animal friends all walked over to a large space in the bookstore and both of the humans bent down to the floor, and slowly dropped their individual pile of books that they were carrying, and took off every book to put down on the floor.

"Well then, Rapunzel, since the owner of this bookstore said that your favorite type of stories are fairy-tales, that means you must have already read all of these books, so which one of them would you say is the best choice to read?" Hiccup asked, while sitting down and looking over in Rapunzel's direction, and patiently waiting for her response.

"Let's see, I've always enjoyed reading this certain collection of books, not just because they all happen to feature a young girl who's a princess like me, but some of them aren't one in the beginning, and I feel like they could be great friends of mine, if I ever did get to meet him, but Ariel is the girl that I would want to meet the most." Rapunzel answered.

"Okay, so which one of these books does Ariel come from?" Hiccup asked, turning his face to look at the books, and Rapunzel easily helped him out by pointing to a blue book with the title "The Little Mermaid", and featured an image of what seemed to be the moon and a woman who was looking up while sitting down in front of the moon.

"Hey, Rapunzel, do you think that maybe it would be better if I read the book?" Hiccup suggested, while pushing away the rest of the books. "You said earlier that it would be great to hear my voice a lot more, so you wouldn't mind if I read it instead?" He asked, hoping that Rapunzel thought it was a good idea too.

"Of course not, Hiccup. In fact, I don't mind at all! You should know first that it's about a young mermaid who's willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince. Doesn't it already sound like a good story to read?" Rapunzel questioned.

"Although it sounds a bit weird, yeah, it really does sound like a good story," Hiccup said, as he opened up the book and flipped through just a few pages until he came upon the very first chapter of the book. "Now let's get to reading it, shall we?" He asked, and took a deep breath before he began to read.


	11. 'I Do' Details

"Now that was a very. . .interesting story, wasn't it? Oh, wait, you read it already, so that was probably a dumb question to even ask." Hiccup said, making a mental facepalm in his mind.

"No, it wasn't a dumb question, Hiccup, and I agree with you about it being an interesting story, but there's a lot of parts which are romantic, and at most times, quite sad." Rapunzel replied.

"So, Rapunzel, do you want all of us to stay here a little longer so that we could read another story, or should we get going to see more of your kingdom?" Hiccup asked.

"I'd like to stay here for a while, but not to read one more fairytale, just so we can talk about the story for a moment. You wouldn't mind doing that?" Rapunzel answered.

"Of course not, so how about this, I'll be the one coming up with the questions related to the story, and you'll be giving an answer for those questions." Hiccup suggested.

"That's a great idea, Hiccup, and since it was you who came up with the idea, I'll let you go first with the questions, and we'll simply take it from there." Rapunzel responded.

"Okay then, I just need to think of a question. . .oh, here's one! What was your favourite part in the book, and this one will be easy, because we just read the book." Hiccup said.

"Actually, there are a lot of parts in the book that are a favourite of mine, but if I had to choose just one, then it would have to be where Ariel and the prince dance in the kingdom." Rapunzel replied.

"Alright, so why is that certain part from the book one of your favourites, but wait, Rapunzel, are you sure that you don't mind answering a bunch of questions?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, Hiccup, I don't mind at all, and to be honest, I could practically go on all day with talking about a book that I love to read, but maybe I'll do that some other time." Rapunzel answered.

Hiccup just gave a nod with his head, letting Rapunzel continue. "It's become one of my favourites because I find it to be a very sweet and romantic moment." Rapunzel added.

"Rapunzel, do you like to dance, because it's usually a rare occasion when I try to do it myself, especially because of my leg here." Hiccup said, taking a look at his prosthetic.

"Oh, I love to dance, Hiccup, like whenever there's one happening with the villagers at the town square, I always join in with them, and we all end up having a good time." Rapunzel replied.

"You know, before I left Berk, the entire village had gathered together to give me a big surprise party, and it featured a feast, lots of music, and of course, dancing." Hiccup mentioned.

"That was very sweet of them to do that, and besides, if I was going away from Corona for a year, I'm sure that the whole kingdom would throw a party too." Rapunzel responded.

"Well, as much I loved it, I was already happy even before I found out about the party, since I had just gotten engaged to my girlfriend the night before." Hiccup revealed.

"Wait a minute, Hiccup, you're going to get married?" Rapunzel said, gasping. "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you!" She added, while crawling over to give him a hug.

"Thank you, Rapunzel, it really means a lot to hear that." Hiccup replied, as he awkwardly returned the affection by putting both of his hands on her back for a short moment.

"I'm sure that the village was so happy to hear the big news at the party the next day! So please tell me, was the ring beautiful and have you set a date?" Rapunzel asked.

"To be honest with you, I just simply asked for her hand in marriage, we haven't made any official plans, and we didn't really announce it at the party." Hiccup answered.

"Really, but why? It would've made much more sense, considering all of Berk was in the same place, so why didn't you announce it right then and there." Rapunzel asked.

"Most likely because I was going to be coming here right after the party was over, and it would've taken about a month for Berk to plan the wedding." Hiccup explained.

"Oh, I get it now, so when you get back to Berk, you'll announce the engagement, the wedding will be planned, and then, you'll finally be married!" Rapunzel responded.

"Yes, like it's better to do all of those things, instead of just one of them, and then to go away for a whole year without doing the rest of them, right?" Hiccup questioned.

"I agree, and maybe, at least if you think that it's a good idea, you could invite me to your wedding, and I could invite you to my wedding too?" Rapunzel suggested.

"Hold on, you're getting married too? When did you get engaged, and have you made any plans already," Hiccup asked, and yet, he couldn't believe that he was asking these type of questions.

"Actually, I'm not, but I'm really hoping that it's going to happen as soon as my boyfriend comes back from his year-long lessons and training overseas." Rapunzel answered.

"So it seems like I'm not the only one who's going to be away from their soon-to-be-wife, but is it necessary for your boyfriend to be gone for that long?" Hiccup questioned.

"If he's going to officially become part of the family, well, my family to be exact, then he has to learn everything there is when it comes to royalty." Rapunzel proudly replied.

"It must be hard not having him here. I mean, my girlfriend spent most of her time with me, so I'm sure that she's going to miss me every day I'm gone." Hiccup mentioned.

"Well, I have to admit that I was feeling pretty upset yesterday morning as I was thinking about him, but then my mood changed when I heard that you were coming." Rapunzel reminded.

"I was actually very nervous during the whole flight that me and Toothless took to get here, because I've never been to, or even heard of a kingdom before." Hiccup said.

"There isn't anything that should make you feel that way when you're here, since not one part of this kingdom is dangerous, and everyone's always quite kind." Rapunzel replied.

"I know that's definately true, especially from meeting not just you, but also your parents, Pascal, the servants in your castle, and the owner of this bookstore." Hiccup responded.

"Thanks, Hiccup, that's a sweet thing for you to say, and oh, I have a idea, why don't we throw a party to celebrate your engagement to your girlfriend?" Rapunzel suggested.

"As much as that would be great, Rapunzel, I think it would make more sense for the kingdom to be throwing your party that's celebrating your engagement." Hiccup replied.

"Just because you weren't born and raised in Corona doesn't mean that we shouldn't celebrate the events that happened in your village, but are you sure that you don't want a party?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, but still, it was nice of you to suggest the idea, it's just that I think it would be strange to celebrate my engagement in two different places, which are also far away from each other." Hiccup answered.

"Okay, Hiccup, I understand if you don't want to have a party, and maybe after we're done in here, we could go to a restaurant, so you could enjoy some new food. What do you think?" Rapunzel questioned.

"Didn't we just have a big breakfast at the castle this morning, and not so long ago? I still feel quite full from those. . .what was the food we had, because I can't seem to remember all of them." Hiccup replied.

"I believe that the food which was prepared for our breakfast were buttermilk pancakes, Belgian waffles, eggs Benedict, french toast, and of course, a combo of bacon and sausages." Rapunzel informed.

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for all of us to go down to that restaurant and see what it looks like, know what kind of food they serve, and then we could go back to it another time when I'm not so full of food." Hiccup suggested.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea, but for now, let's do a few more questions and answers with the mermaid tale that we read earlier, and thanks for telling me about your engagement." Rapunzel said, and gave a cute smile.

"Your welcome," Hiccup replied. "So anyway, here's another question I came up for you. Would you ever follow in Ariel's path, and leave your family to be with the man that you love?" He asked.

Rapunzel carefully thought about Hiccup's question for a moment, while she also wondered if it was kinda like having to choose between her family and Eugene, before coming out with an answer for it.

"Yes, I would, but only if I got to see my family from time to time, because I can't really imagine living my life without seeing them again, and that way, we could share with each other about what's been happening in our lives." Rapunzel answered.

"What if you were a mermaid just like Ariel, and wanted to have human legs to walk around, and then you met someone who could transform you into a human, but you were required to give up your voice, would you make that deal?" Hiccup asked.

"I think that I probably would, because as much as it would be great for me to live in the deep blue sea, I'm sure that one day, I'll eventually get bored, but I'd also need to know a good way to communicate with people." Rapunzel replied.

"You can still do that, at least, if you carry a pen, and a lot of sheets of paper with you, wherever you go, then you'll be just fine, right?" Hiccup asked, while raising an eyebrow.

Rapunzel let out a giggle, and nodded her head, as the Viking could easily tell that she liked this fun game they had of him asking questions and her giving answers for them. Even though Hiccup and Toothless had arrived just yesterday, Rapunzel was glad to have new visitors that she and Pascal could hang out with, especially while Eugene was away.

"Now then, Rapunzel, I have another question for you, and just so you know first, it really has to do with what we talked about a few minutes ago, if that's okay?" Hiccup asked.

"I don't mind, Hiccup. Go ahead and ask me. If this question involves parties and celebrations, or engagements and weddings, then I'm sure that I'll have a good answer." Rapunzel replied.

"What kind of wedding are you planning to have? I mean, even though Eugene hasn't even proposed, you must have already started thinking of what it should be like for you." Hiccup responded.

"Since I'm the princess of the kingdom, it's going to be royal wedding, obviously, and everyone who lives here is going to be in attendance, which means they'll be there." Rapunzel said.

"Exactly how many people live in Corona anyway, because I'm sure that it's probably going to be a problem with trying to get everybody into the castle for the ceremony." Hiccup mentioned.

"Luckily, I was told many times the population of the entire kingdom throughout my lessons, and so the amount of people in Corona happens to be three thousand." Rapunzel explained.

"Oh my gods, Rapunzel, that is definitely a lot of people to be living on an island, but still, I'm sure that there's many villagers who live in Berk too, although I haven't been told the exact population by my father yet." Hiccup said.

"I also think that it would be too hard for me to choose a cake and a dress, so I'd probably end up creating them myself, as well as a bouquet of flowers too." Rapunzel mentioned.

"If it helps, I suggest that as soon as you have a dream or at least imagine what they'll look like, then you should make up a drawing. That reminds me, do you draw?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes, Hiccup, I love to draw, but the one thing that I absolutely love to do the most is painting, and it's a hobby that I've started back when I was living in that far away tower hidden deep in the woods." Rapunzel answered.

"Maybe sometime, we could head to that tower, so you could show me all of the paintings that you've done, but I understand if you think that's not such a good idea." Hiccup suggested.

"Sure, I'd like to go back there, unless it wasn't the exact same place for where I was locked away from my real home and family for the past eighteen years." Rapunzel replied.

"Okay, now I know that it's a bad idea, and Rapunzel, I'm sorry for even thinking that it was a good idea to begin with, so can you possibly forgive me?" Hiccup asked.

"Of course, I can forgive you, Hiccup, but I should really apologize too, because I was only trying to be sarcastic or humorous, but I wasn't that good, was I?" Rapunzel questioned.

"Oh, no, you were pretty good, but I do think that it wouldn't hurt to have a little more practice, and if you want, I could try to help you out with it..." Hiccup offered.

"Yes, of course, Hiccup, that would be great." Rapunzel responded, before giving a smile. "Anyway, it seems like we've been talking a lot more about our future weddings than the book that we've read earlier." She mentioned.

"Yeah, I noticed that too, but do you want to keep playing this game of questions and answers, or should we go out now so you could show me more of the village?" Hiccup questioned.

"As much as the game was a lot of fun, I think that I'd like to do something different, so Hiccup, do you have any ideas that you can think of right now?" Rapunzel asked.

"Well, I don't want to sound impatient or anything, but is it okay if we could go outside, which I believe would be all of us 'doing something different'." Hiccup replied.

"Sure, Hiccup," Rapunzel said, before reaching out to pick up the books. "I think that we've spent enough time in this bookstore, not that it wasn't fun or exciting, right?" She asked.

"Oh no, it was nice to be reading something that wasn't related to dragons, and I certainly look forward to doing it again a lot more times while I'm here." Hiccup responded.

"You're lucky, because when you're in the mood to read something next time, then you can just head to the library that's back inside the castle." Rapunzel suggested.

"I had a feeling earlier that there would be a library in your home, considering how large it is, but I wanted to check out the village for a while first." Hiccup mentioned.

"Well, you can be glad to know that there's certainly a lot more than just bookstores in this whole village, such as bakeries, restaurants, art galleries, clothing stores." Rapunzel said.

"I can't wait for you to show me all of those places," Hiccup said, before noticing that Rapunzel was definitely giving both of her hands a lot of work with carrying all of the fairytale books.

"Here, Rapunzel, let me help you out with these," Hiccup offered, as he came forward and grabbed a few of the books for him to carry. "It would be quite rude of me to let you carry all of those books by yourself." He added.

"Why, thank you, Hiccup, and I can already see that Astrid's such a lucky girl, and I'm sure that she'll want to marry you the minute you're back on Berk." Rapunzel said.

"I'm sure that Eugene won't want to waste any time at all in marrying you when he comes back to Corona, but have you ever thought of just eloping?" Hiccup asked.

"As much as it would be great for Eugene and I to run off and get married in private, it wouldn't be right to not have my parents there when it happens." Rapunzel answered.

"Yeah, I understand, and I don't think that my dad or Astrid's parents would be happy to know that they've lost their chance to see their kids get married." Hiccup replied.

"Let's say that you and Astrid had the chance to elope, Hiccup, where would the two of you want to go, and who would you want to take along with you?" Rapunzel asked.

"I think that we'd like to have just both of our dragons by our side when we elope under the moonlight in a secluded clearing hidden in a forest that's far away from the village in Berk." Hiccup answered.

"That's so romantic, Hiccup, and as for me, I'd want Eugene and I to elope right on the beach with both of us barefoot so that we can be able to feel the sand and water underneath our toes." Rapunzel said.

The two of them brought the pile of books that they were carrying over to the bookstore owner's desk, and they each carefully dropped their pile down on the desk.

"Wow, you're done with the books already, and here I thought that you were going to be in this store much longer, so which one did you enjoy reading the most?" The bookstore owner asked.

"Well, actually, we decided to read just one book today, but I promise that we're going to come back here again so that we can get to read a lot more books." Rapunzel explained.

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that, Your Royal Highness, and it was very nice of you to stop by and visit," The bookstore owner said, before turning to face Hiccup. "I hope you and your dragon enjoy your stay in Corona."

"Thank you, sir, and that's exactly what me and Toothless plan on doing while we're here." Hiccup replied, before him and Toothless, as well as Rapunzel and Pascal, all headed for the entrance of the bookstore, and walked outside.


	12. Dragon Meet & Greet

"So, Hiccup, where do you suggest we head off to next?" Rapunzel asked, as she was quite curious of what place in the kingdom that Hiccup wanted to personally see next.

Just as Hiccup was about to give a response for that question, he felt his stomach make a growling sound, which was loud enough for not just Rapunzel, but also for their animal to hear, and they couldn't help but each let out a laugh.

"Seriously, and yet I thought that I had enough to eat from breakfast this morning so I wasn't expecting to hear that sound again, at least, not too soon." Hiccup admitted.

"I guess that now, we have a good reason for us to eat at a restaurant, and I know a good place that's not far from here, so how about I bring you to it?" Rapunzel suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Hiccup replied, before looking down at his dragon. "I think that Toothless here is starting to get hungry as well, aren't you, buddy?" Hiccup asked.

The Night Fury gave a nod with his head, and then tenderly rubbed it against the boy's waist, telling him that it was always nice for Hiccup to be thinking of him too.

"I'm sure that a lot of time has passed since we had breakfast, from our walk all the way down to this bookstore and going inside to read one of the books." Rapunzel said.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Your Royal Highness, if you don't mind, would you please bring me and my dragon to this restaurant where we shall eat?" Hiccup requested.

"I would love to, Mr. Haddock, and thank you for being so kind with asking me," Rapunzel answered, turning her head to look over at her friend, standing tall on her left shoulder.

"Hey, Pascal, how would you like to have a big bowl of fruit all to yourself?" She asked, and the chameleon nodded, while giving a thumbs up with one of his hands.

"I must admit that I'm pretty hungry too, so now that all of us have agreed on it, let's make our way down there before we all start hearing our stomachs too." Rapunzel added.

With that said, Rapunzel started walking along the street, with Hiccup and Toothless both following in her path, but this time, they were right behind the Princess, instead of beside her.

"So have you gone to this place before, or is this your first time?" Hiccup asked, wanting to make conversation so that their walk wouldn't seem awkward for either of them.

"Actually, I've been to this restaurant quite a few times over the past year. When I prefer to have a meal, usually lunch, outside the castle, I head to one of the restaurants around in this village." Rapunzel explained.

"Do you know exactly how many restaurants there are in Corona?" Hiccup questioned, as he was coming up beside her, since he thought that it was much better to talk with Rapunzel while seeing her face.

"To be honest with you, Hiccup, I'm not really sure on what's the right number, but I think that there's about more than five, but less than ten in the whole village." Rapunzel replied, making an assumption.

"You know, it would be great if I could have a taste of the food from each of those restaurants before I'm gone, so you wouldn't mind in showing the rest of them to me some other day?" Hiccup requested.

"Hiccup, in case I haven't told you or if you didn't know this earlier, I've already made it my personal duty to show you and Toothless around the village, and make sure that you'll both have the best time here." Rapunzel said.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I asked that, Rapunzel, it's just that I thought maybe you would eventually get bored with hanging out with me and Toothless, and want to be doing something else with your time." Hiccup replied, assuming.

"It's usually a rare occasion whenever our kingdom gets any visitors that came from other lands, and I always love meeting new people and getting to know them before they're gone, so I highly doubt that I'll get bored with either of you anytime soon." Rapunzel explained.

"That's good to know, because I've never thought that I'd get to meet and live with royalty before, and when I was younger, I've actually thought of not just Kings and Queens, but also their kids to be vain, spoiled, and selfish, but obviously, I was wrong about that." Hiccup confessed.

"Yes, I'd say that you were, and trust me, Hiccup, you don't need to worry about anyone back in the castle or even in any part of this kingdom giving you cold and dirty looks, or running up to you while carrying sharp pitchforks and flaming torches." Rapunzel replied with a laugh.

"I'd make sure to have Toothless with me if that ever happened though," Hiccup said, before laughing back with Rapunzel for a moment, then suddenly, an idea came into his mind, which caused him to stop with his laughter, and almost right away, Rapunzel did the same thing.

"Hey, Hiccup, what is it?" Rapunzel asked, as she started to believe that something was wrong, but when she saw a smile grow slowly on Hiccup's face, she didn't think that had been the slightest bit possible anymore.

"Rapunzel, before we go down to that restaurant, what do you say that we give a few of the villagers a personal meet-and-greet with Toothless, so that word will spread around town that nobody has to be scared or worried about him at all while we're here." Hiccup suggested.

"Yes, Hiccup, that sounds like a great idea," Rapunzel responded, and she looked around at the townspeople, to which she smiled back to the ones who gave a smile to her.

"Speaking of that idea, I do know a group of four young girls who would like to meet Toothless. Could you wait right here while I go look for them, please?" Rapunzel asked.

"Okay, but before you go, Rapunzel, if I may ask, are you sure that these girls didn't grow up reading stories about how dragons were always these scary and dangerous creatures?" Hiccup questioned.

"Hiccup, I've known these girls for quite a while, so I'm sure that they'll trust me when I tell them that they shouldn't be afraid about meeting your dragon." Rapunzel assured.

"Alright, if you say so, well anyway, I promise that me and Toothless won't be going anywhere until you come back with those four girls." Hiccup replied, giving a grin afterwards.

Rapunzel smiled back at Hiccup before she, along with Pascal on her left shoulder, walked into the crowd of the village's townspeople and out of the boy and his dragon's sight.

After they were gone, Hiccup began to notice that a lot of the villagers had a worried look on their faces, like they were afraid that Toothless would jump out and attack them.

"Hey, Toothless," Hiccup said, as he brought his head down to face his best friend. "Do you remember when we were at the cove for the first time, and you tried to copy the smile I made?" He asked.

Toothless nodded with his head, although he was instantly wondering why Hiccup had decided to bring this up now, when that was a moment which happened so long ago.

"It's just that these villagers don't seem to feel safe around you, so maybe now would be a really good time to show these people that big smile of yours, huh?" Hiccup asked.

To help him out a little bit more, Hiccup showed Toothless the exact same smile that he had given to the dragon after he ate a small part out of Toothless' regurgitated fish. It only took the Night Fury about five seconds for him to make a copy of his best friend's look, and then he turned his head to present an actual 'toothless' smile for the villagers of Corona. The dragon's smiling seemed to be working so far, as Hiccup looked closely to see that a few people had a grin on their face, while others let out a laugh before covering their mouth with one of their hands. However, none of the villagers even bothered to actually walk right up to Toothless, meaning that they were still scared of them, and wanted to see better proof that he wasn't dangerous.

"Hey, Hiccup, I'm back!" A voice called out, and then the Viking turned around to see Rapunzel coming towards him, but of course, she wasn't alone, as there were about four young girls walking along with her.

"Wow, that didn't take long, like you were gone for only a few minutes?" Hiccup said, assuming, before looking down slightly to face the four girls in front of him. "So who have you brought to meet Toothless?" He asked.

"After I left the tower for the first time, when I came upon this village, a few people had already stepped on my hair, and that's when I knew that I couldn't just leave my hair out, and so I looked around to see if there was anyone who could help. Only a few seconds had passed before I found a solution nearby, as I saw all of these girls braiding each other's hair over at a fountain, and when they saw me, let's just say that it wasn't long before my hair was braided elegantly with all kinds of pretty flowers." Rapunzel explained.

"Well, Rapunzel, it was very nice of these girls to do that for you, but I'm sure that you didn't bring all of them over here so that they could braid my hair, and decorate it with lots of flowers, right?" Hiccup joked, which caused the Princess and the four girls to laugh.

"No, Hiccup, of course not," Rapunzel replied, and took a quick breath to regain her composure. "So anyway, when I told these girls that a dragon was going to be staying in Corona, each of them became quite excited, but were also disappointed. Since you and Toothless would stay with me and my parents in our castle during your time here, the girls believed that they would never get to have a chance of meeting either one of you, but I told them that you were more than happy to meet all of them." Rapunzel said.

"You were right to tell them that, Rapunzel, because me and Toothless don't mind it usually when it comes to meeting new people." Hiccup said, before holding up one of his hands to stop the girls from going any further.

"Maybe it would be best for Toothless to know at least their names first, because I don't think that he would be okay with having complete and total strangers come close to him, even if they are young and female." He added.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea," Rapunzel replied, agreeing with Hiccup, before she walked over to the left and stood behind the red headed girl who was the shortest of the four girls and whose hair had about four braids.

"This girl's name is Mary," Rapunzel said, and then went over to the second girl, who was slightly taller.

"This girl's name is Lucy," She added, before going over to the third girl, who had two braided ponytails. "This girl's name is Abby."

Rapunzel walked over to come behind the fourth and final girl, who was not only the tallest out of all the girls, but she also had just one long braided ponytail that came all the way down to part of her skirt. "This girl's name is Suzy."

"I must say that those really are cute names, but Rapunzel, do you know if these girls happen to be related, because from looking at all of their faces, it definitely seems that way to me." Hiccup said, becoming more interested to know.

Right after he said that, Hiccup began to wonder how hard it must have been for a woman to be pregnant with four girls, and how painful it was for her to be giving birth to each of them, but he quickly shook those thoughts out of his head.

"Believe it or not, Hiccup, but none of these girls are actually related, and they all have their own mother, so anyway, which one of them should be the very first to meet Toothless personally?" Rapunzel asked, while sounding quite enthusiastic.

"Let's see," Hiccup replied, before looking at each of the girls, and taking a moment to think. "How about we let the girl. . . with the most braids in her hair come up first?" Hiccup requested, and made a grin as he saw Mary jump up and down.

"First of all, Mary, it's great to see that you're excited for this," Hiccup said. "Now in order for you to meet Toothless, you'll have to listen carefully to my directions, or else, you won't ever get to have a chance, and Toothless won't trust you." He added.

Mary gave a nod of her head, which showed Hiccup that she understood what he told her, and so he lent one of his hands out to her. "Mary, could you please give me your hand, and it doesn't really matter which one, but it's up to you." Hiccup instructed.

The girl quickly held out her right hand, and Hiccup took it gently, as they both walked closer to Toothless, who stayed right where he was. What the three of them didn't see was that more people had stopped to take a look of what was happening in front of their eyes.

"I swear, Mary, nothing bad is going to happen," Hiccup whispered softly. "You're only going to have your hand on a spot above his nose, and between both of his eyes." He added, and grinned softly when he saw Mary give another nod of her head.

"Just have patience, keep your hand out towards him, and wait for Toothless to come to you," Hiccup said, before letting go of her hand.

He turned his head around to face his reptile friend, and motioned for him to come closer with one of his hands, and so the dragon took small steps in Mary's direction. Toothless stopped moving until his head came just below Mary's waiting palm, and he closed his eyes before raising his head, pressing his nose into her palm. With that being done, Mary quietly gasped with the soft feeling of it, as well as the warmth was running into her palm, and coming right down her arm too.

"So, Mary, do you feel that now?" Hiccup asked softly, and the girl quickly brought her face up from staring at her hand to look at Hiccup with a expression of awe, while nodding, and he looked up from her face to see all of the villagers watching.

Instead of freaking out over the expanded crowd all around them, Hiccup calmly kept his attention back to Mary, and he slowly took her hand off from Toothless' nose.

"I'm glad to see that you enjoyed meeting Toothless, but I think that it's time for one of your friends to have their turn now." Hiccup said, and he was relieved to see that Mary understood, as she nodded her head and stood back in line with the other girls.

"I think that the girl who's the tallest should come up next," Hiccup said, and so he did the exact same meet and greet routine with Toothless for Suzy, just like he did with Mary, and then not once again, but two more times with Lucy and Abby as well.

As soon as it was all done, the four girls went back to standing in a line, and each of them now had a look of pure satisfaction on their faces, since having the chance to meet a dragon up closer for the very first time was better than they ever imagined.

"So, young ladies, even though it's kind of unnecessary to ask you this question, I'll still go ahead and ask you anyway, did all of you enjoy meeting my best friend?" Hiccup asked, and the four girls replied by jumping up and down while nodding their heads.

"That's good to know, but I'd really appreciate it if you girls could spread word around the village that Toothless isn't so bad once you get to know him, so can you please do that for me?" Hiccup asked, while he had himself bent down to reach their eye level.

The girls did one final nod with their heads to Hiccup before turning around to face Rapunzel and each did a cute curtsy for her before walking away until they were out of sight from both the princess, as well as the Viking and his dragon. Hiccup moved his head to see that there was still a crowd of villagers looking at them, and most, if not all of the people, had their eyes wide open, and Hiccup couldn't tell if they were in a state of wonder and amazement or a state of fear and shock. The silence lasted for about less than a minute until eventually, a young boy came out from the mass of townspeople, and slowly brought his hands up, then used them to clap, and soon, everyone else was doing the exact same thing.

Hearing the applause had made Hiccup feel a whole lot better about having Toothless out in public around this village, and so he gave a proud bow to the audience, while he motioned for his best friend to do what he was doing. Toothless rose up onto his hind legs and sat down before giving his own bow to their audience, which only caused them to make the cheers much louder, and so he decided to show the same smile that he made from earlier today.

What happened this time, is that the Night Fury and his human stood up to both see and hear the crowd erupting in laughter, and Hiccup was so glad that it didn't seem to be the same kind when people made fun of him in the past. Rapunzel slowly came forward until she was in front of Hiccup and Toothless, then raised both of her hands, which brought down the laughing and cheering from the crowd, as they could tell that she had something she wanted to say.

"Dear people of Corona, I'd like to thank all of you for simply taking a moment of your time to witness the legendary Night Fury give a rare meet and greet with four citizens of my kingdom, and the first dragon rider of Berk really appreciates it. However, there's a restaurant not too far from here that I was hoping to take him to before the day is over, so I'd be very appreciative if you all could go on with whatever you were doing right now, and let me bring him to this restaurant." Rapunzel requested.

Right after hearing that, the crowd immediately had broken up as the villagers separated from each other and went off to handle their own private matters and other stuff.

"Well, I'd say that from the smiles on their faces, and the sound of their cheers, they absolutely loved it, and are now convinced that Toothless isn't such a danger after all." Rapunzel said, with a tone of satisfaction in her voice.

"Let's just hope it stays that way throughout the whole year, or maybe not, because it does seem like a lot to ask for, isn't it?" Hiccup asked, before making a lopsided grin.

"No, Hiccup, it's not too much," Rapunzel answered, while giving a bright smile in return to his own. "So shall we make our way to the restaurant now?" She suggested.

Hiccup gave a nod with his head, and then let Rapunzel take the lead in bringing them down the path to the restaurant, but he didn't want it to be just silence between them until they got there, so he thought of something that they could talk about.

"So, Rapunzel, since you're the princess, I guess that means we don't have to worry about not getting into this restaurant, because the owner will gladly let us in, right?" Hiccup asked, then did a mental facepalm in his head of how dumb that question was.

"Of course we'll get in, Hiccup, and because of my royal status, not only do I have free access to any eatery on this island, but the owner of it will have the place closed to the public so that I can be able to enjoy my meal in total privacy." Rapunzel revealed.

"Wow, that must be great, but wouldn't it also feel a little lonely to be eating all by yourself, and I know that's how I would feel if I was having a meal alone." Hiccup said.

"Sometimes, but I have to admit that it's kind of nice for me to have a moment of time that doesn't include any of the villagers staring at me." Rapunzel responded.

"What's wrong with that, Rapunzel, like are these people jealous of who you are, or is it just because you're always given the most attention?" Hiccup guessed.

"Oh, no, it's not anything like that at all," Rapunzel replied, while holding up her palms and shaking her head. "I already get enough attention from them when I'm outside..."

"I definitely know what you're talking about, like when I was going through dragon training, everybody had wanted to know how I became so good with the dragons, but unfortunately, I couldn't tell them anything without bringing up Toothless." Hiccup said.

"I'm glad that you managed to get though that, Hiccup, and it's good that Toothless didn't get hurt either, so I guess that when it comes to wanting privacy when you're given a lot of attention, we now have that in common, don't we?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes, I believe we do, and by the way, that was a great speech you gave earlier," Hiccup answered, but when he saw Rapunzel give a look of confusion, he continued on. "You know, when you thanked everyone for watching us back there." Hiccup added.

"I owe that to catching up on eighteen years full of royal etiquette in the past year, and wow, did I learn a lot, but I don't think that it's necessary to go over all of it with you, because I'm pretty sure that you'd easily get so bored from listening." Rapunzel assumed.

"Maybe if I had been born as a princess, and was about the same age as one of those four red-headed girls I met earlier, then it would be important for me to know that kind of stuff." Hiccup said.

"I agree, but wait. . .since you're the son and only child to the chief of your village, then doesn't that mean you're going to take over your father's position when you get older?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes, that's right, and while I don't think that it's going to happen when he passes away, but much sooner than that, like after he's given me a lot of advice, training, and preparation first." Hiccup explained.

"Well, I don't care if it's too early to be saying this, but I really think that you'll make a wonderful chief, Hiccup, and your father will be so proud of you." Rapunzel said, while having a bright smile on her face.

"Thanks, Rapunzel, it was very nice of you to say that, and it might probably be too soon to say this, but I think that you're an amazing princess." Hiccup responded.

"Thank you, Hiccup, and I'm sure that the two, I mean four of us, are going to have a lot of fun together." Rapunzel assured, before turning her head, and stopped walking.

"Oh, look, we're finally here!" Rapunzel shouted out in excitement, while pointing her finger at the place in front of her, and Hiccup moved his own to see it for himself.

"All that I can say right now is that it seems good from the outside, but how about we finally check it out on the inside?" Hiccup suggested, and saw Rapunzel make a quick nod, before going forward to open the door, and let her and Pascal go in first.


	13. Afternoon Lunch

Right after Hiccup and Toothless followed their friends through the door, and went inside the restaurant, they both took a moment of their time to check the place out, and each of them were quite impressed with how it looked. Every table was covered with a white tablecloth, which featured an image of the kingdom's symbol, while having a flower arrangement on top of it, and the cutlery was already set up neatly on all of the tables in their view. There were two forks on the left side of the plate, with one of them being slightly shorter than the other, and on the right side was a knife and spoon, while the napkin was folded into the shape of a diamond on the plate. Basically, it was all arranged the same way for how it was with breakfast time in the castle earlier, and Hiccup wondered if every other restaurant had their tableware laid out just like how it was done in this restaurant as well.

"Hey, Rapunzel, this really is a nice-looking restaurant, but why isn't anybody else in here, like is the food terrible, or did people have to wait a long time for their meal to arrive for them?" Hiccup asked, while looking around.

"Oh no, Hiccup, don't worry," Rapunzel answered, while shaking her head. "Eugene and I have been to this restaurant before, so I know it does have great food, and you don't need to wait so long for your meal to come." She added.

"That's a relief, but Rapunzel, if there's no problem with the food and service in here, then how come this place isn't packed with lots of people, because it doesn't really make sense to me." Hiccup said, being very confused.

"Well, to be honest with you, Hiccup, the reason why villagers only go to this restaurant is so that they can have a nice, romantic evening, and I'm talking about husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. . ." Rapunzel replied.

"Hold on a second, so that's why people come here, if they want to go on a date," Hiccup realized, now having a look of shock on his face. ". . .but we're not a couple, so why bring us to this particular restaurant?" Hiccup questioned.

"I thought that you'd like to have some privacy, because did it feel awkward to have the eyes of all those villagers watching you and Toothless from earlier? Rapunzel asked.

"Yeah, I guess that it was a little uncomfortable for me, although it did feel very good to hear them clapping and cheering, like I didn't do something wrong." Hiccup answered.

"Don't worry, Hiccup, none of the villagers in my kingdom are rude and judgmental people, and they're really open-minded and always appreciative." Rapunzel responded.

"I didn't think they would be rude or anything, but I was a little worried that they wouldn't trust me to go around the kingdom with Toothless by my side." Hiccup admitted.

"Well, I'm sure that when those four girls tell more people about meeting Toothless, not one person will have a problem when they're around your friend." Rapunzel replied.

"In the meantime, let's hope that does happen, so anyway, should we now look for somebody who works here, and can bring us to one of these tables?" Hiccup suggested.

"Yes, and I think that we'll feel much more relaxed if we're sitting down somewhere, especially after we've walked for so long just to get down here." Rapunzel agreed.

She took a few steps over to the podium and tapped on the bell about three times, before her, Hiccup, and their reptile friends all saw a man come out through a door.

"Your Royal Highness, it's such a pleasant surprise for you to stop by this restaurant today, so were you planning to enjoy a meal in private?" The tall man asked.

Once the man had come into full view, Hiccup could be able to notice that he was wearing a suit and shoes in the color of black and he also had his hair well groomed.

"Yes, that's right, but this time, I won't be alone in doing so, and that's why I'd like for you to meet the very first dragon rider and his best friend." Rapunzel answered.

The man turned his head over to face Hiccup, then gave a small smile in his direction, before keeping his eyes on him, as if he was waiting for Hiccup to do something. Hiccup eventually realized that the man was waiting for him to give his name, since Rapunzel didn't actually say it while talking to the man just a few seconds ago.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I didn't introduce myself right away, but my name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and this is Toothless, my dragon." Hiccup said.

"It's certainly nice to meet both of you, and I can tell that this happens to be your first time being here in Corona, so how long will you be around?" The man asked.

"We'll be staying in the kingdom for about a year, and while we're here, the Princess will be making sure that we're comfortable at all times." Hiccup replied.

"You don't need to worry about that, Mr. Haddock, because Corona has a lot of things to offer for new visitors, such as restaurants like this one." The man assured.

"Speaking of which, it would be absolutely great if me, the Princess, and our friends could sit down at a table so we can relax and have some food." Hiccup suggested.

"I agree, so anyway, if you would all please follow me, I'll bring the four of you over to an area that I'm sure you'll find quite satisfying." The man requested kindly.

Hiccup and Rapunzel gave a nod with their heads in unison, and they followed the man across the exquisite room, while Toothless did his best not to break anything. It wasn't until all of them were back outside again, and they looked around to see that they were on a terrace, with all of the tables having an umbrella on top of them. What's more is that they also got to have a wonderful view of the wide open sea, with the light of the sun reflecting off the water, and it was truly great to be looking at.

"Isn't this quite beautiful, or what?" Rapunzel asked, while she still had her eyes on the ocean in front of her, and Hiccup gave a response by slowly nodded his head.

"Excuse me, Mr. Haddock and Your Royal Highness, but I think that you'll enjoy the sight a lot better if you're sitting down at one of these tables." The man offered.

"Yes, that's a good idea, and sir, I hope you don't mind when I ask you this, but what's your name, because you didn't tell us when we were inside." Hiccup mentioned.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Mr. Haddock, and no, I don't mind at all, so anyway, my name is Frank, and it's such a privilege to be serving you today." Frank responded.

Hiccup smiled back briefly before he and Rapunzel sat down at a table, with Toothless sitting near Hiccup's chair, and Pascal staying where he was on Rapunzel's shoulder. Frank pulled out two menus from under his right armpit and handed them over to the new patrons, and he was about to leave them when he heard his name be called.

"Wait a minute, and I don't mean to be rude or anything, but aren't you supposed to ask us what we'd like to have for our meal and drink first?" Hiccup reminded.

"Yes, that's right, but I'm just going to give you a few minutes so that you can look over the menu, and then make a decision on what you'll have." Frank explained.

"That would be great, thank you, and I'm sorry if I was like telling you how to do your job, but as you know, this whole experience is really new to me." Hiccup said.

"It's alright, and because you're a new customer to this restaurant, I'm going to make sure that you're treated so well that you'll want to come again." Frank replied.

"Well, Frank, I must say that I'm certainly glad to hear that, and I can't wait for me and Toothless to be served by you." Hiccup said, now having an enthusiastic tone.

Frank gave a simple nod with his head before walking back into the restaurant, but not before closing the doors behind him, leaving Hiccup, Rapunzel, and their friends alone. As soon as the doors had been closed, the Viking and the princess began looking over the items on their menu, and Hiccup couldn't believe how many sections the menu had. There was a section for appetizers, and another one for soups & salads, while there was also a section for fish & seafood, and another one for items consisting of beef & pork. It still wasn't the end of the menu, though, as there was a section for items with chicken, and another section for sandwiches, as well as another for something called pizzas. Finally, there was a section for desserts, and one for beverages, which Hiccup believed to be just a different word for drinks, and he looked up from his menu to face Rapunzel.

"Hey, Rapunzel, all of these things on the menu really look nice and all, but I honestly think that it's going to take me a while to decide what I want to have." Hiccup admitted.

"Oh, Hiccup, don't worry, because if it's that hard for you, then I'll be more than happy to choose an item for the two of us, as long as you're okay with that?" Rapunzel replied.

"Sure, Rapunzel, I'd appreciate it, and I'm sure it's better for you and I to share a meal than for us to each order a whole bunch of items from the menu." Hiccup said in relief.

"Wait a minute, Hiccup, it's not like we need to pick one item from each and every section of this menu, and we're only here for a small afternoon lunch." Rapunzel responded.

"That's good, because I wouldn't want to stuff myself full of food, and get an awful stomachache, so it's best to make sure that we have room for supper too." Hiccup added.

"Yes, I agree," Rapunzel said, before she looked back down at the menu and moved her eyes around to find a certain section, which happened to be the one for appetizers.

Both Hiccup and his dragon waited calmly as Rapunzel took a minute or two on deciding which item to choose, with Pascal also giving a hard look at each of the items too.

"Pascal, what do you think about this one?" Rapunzel whispered to the chameleon, since she always did value his opinion. "Is it a good choice for me and Hiccup to have?"

He gave his approval by letting out a happy squeak, and the princess's best friend knew what he already wanted to eat, because she already did ask him earlier today.

"Good news, Hiccup," Rapunzel said, while lifting her head up to face him. "Me and Pascal have decided on an appetizer, and it's going to be breadsticks with sauces."

"Okay, Rapunzel, that doesn't sound so bad, but if you don't mind, could you also tell me what kind of sauces they are, and even the names as well." Hiccup requested.

"The first is marinara, which is made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions, while the second is alfredo, and that's made with milk, cream, cheese, and eggs." Rapunzel explained.

"I'd like to say thanks for describing the sauces to me, but how do you know what all the ingredients are for both of them, because it doesn't say on the menu. Hiccup said.

"Easy, one of the waiters from this restaurant told me, since I was so curious to know, and there's recipes back in the castle for the kitchen staff to use." Rapunzel replied.

"I guess that you tasted them before, so that obviously means you can tell me how good each sauce is, and which one happens to be your favourite." Hiccup suggested.

"Marinara has a strong and tangy flavour, while alfredo is quite rich, meaning that it's full of flavour, especially cheese because it's made from a few." Rapunzel clarified.

"Hearing all of this just makes me want to taste them even more, but of course, I'll have to wait until they're actually on this table to try them out." Hiccup mentioned.

"Yes, Hiccup, that's right, and. . .oh, you asked me which is my favourite, but I'll have to say that I like them equally, since it's hard to choose one." Rapunzel admitted.

"So it'll probably be the same way for me after I've tasted both of them, and shouldn't we have something to drink that can wash down the breadsticks?" Hiccup asked.

Rapunzel gave a quick nod, before looking down to the menu again and searched through it to the section for beverages, where she took a moment to read each item. There were simple choices, such as fresh water and hot tea, while others had a little more flavour to them, with those being lemonade, fruit punch, and the berry drink.

"How about we have raspberry lemonade, which is a mix of. . lemons and raspberries, but I'm sure that you've never had those fruits back at Berk, right?" Rapunzel asked.

"Nope, I've never even heard of them, but it wouldn't hurt to try them out, and since they're being used in a restaurant, that means they're not poisonous?" Hiccup questioned.

"Hiccup, if those types of fruit were actually poisonous, then we'd never have them grow in any part of the kingdom, but they're not, so don't worry." Rapunzel answered.

"You know, maybe when my visit here is done, I could bring a lot of things from this kingdom over to Berk, such as fruit and food we've never had before." Hiccup suggested.

"Sure, Hiccup, that would be great, but it depends on much stuff that you'll take back, because if it's a lot, then you might need to take another bag." Rapunzel advised.

"Another bag. . .oh, right, since I probably won't be able to put all of it in the bag that I already brought with me, so Rapunzel, that's a good idea." Hiccup responded.

"Thanks, so anyway, we're going to have breadsticks with sauces for a appetizer, and we'll each have raspberry lemonade for a drink, isn't that correct?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes, and now we just have to wait until Frank comes back so that we can tell him that, and I really hope that he'll be coming out here any minute." Hiccup replied.

It seemed like Frank had somehow read Hiccup's mind, as only less than two minutes had passed before he came out the door, while having a bright smile on his face.

"So have both of you decided what you're going to have for an appetizer, or do you need a little more time to decide, because I understand if you do. . ." Frank said.

"No, that's okay, we've already made a decision, so we'd like breadsticks with dipping sauces, and we'll each have a raspberry lemonade for a drink." Rapunzel told him.

"I'll make sure that the chefs work very hard back in the kitchen so those breadsticks will be out in no time, and the same goes for your drinks too." Frank announced.

"Great, but we wouldn't want my friend, Pascal, to go hungry, so I'd really appreciate it if you could bring back at least two bowls of fruit for Pascal." Rapunzel requested.

Frank had been carrying a small sheet of paper in his hand, while he used a pen to write down all of the items that Rapunzel wanted to have at her and Hiccup's table.

". . .and Mr. Haddock, what would your dragon like for me to bring back for him, because I can already tell that he wants something." Frank said, looking at Toothless.

"He absolutely loves fish, especially if it's salmon or Icelandic cod, so when you come back, could you please return with a large amount of either kind?" Hiccup asked.

"Of course, and how many fish would Toothless be happy with, since I wouldn't want to disappoint your dragon by not having the right amount for him." Frank replied.

"Usually, Toothless is happy with a hundred in total, but I'm pretty sure that he can handle any amount less than that, so it would mean a lot to both of us." Hiccup said.

"I promise not to let the two of you down, so if there isn't anything else, then I'll just give you to a little more time to decide on the main course." Frank responded.

"No, I don't think there's more, but Rapunzel, what about you?" Hiccup asked, as he turned to face the princess, since he felt that she should give an answer as well.

"There's nothing that I can think of, but Frank, I'd really like to say right now that it's truly been such a pleasure to have you as our waiter." Rapunzel complimented.

"I'm glad to hear that, Your Royal Highness," Frank said, then gave a smile to both Rapunzel and Hiccup before turning around to go back inside the restaurant again.

After he heard the doors be closed shut, Hiccup brought his attention not to the royal young woman sitting in front of him, but to the vast, gorgeous sea on his left side. Staring at the endless amount of blue water with his green eyes caused him to think about the many times when he would sit down on a cliff in Berk and look at the ocean. Occasionally, he'll be joined by someone whom he didn't mind at all to have by his side during those moments, and together, they'd watch the ocean in peaceful silence.

The person in particular wasn't Snotlout, who would rather be spending all of his time with Hookfang, than doing an activity with Hiccup that didn't require their dragons. It couldn't be Fishlegs either, since he'd want to bring Meatlug along as well, and the dragon would probably ruin Hiccup's activity altogether by passing gas next to him. Neither Tuffnut nor Ruffnut happened to be that person, because they would find the activity flat-out boring, and they'll just find a way to make it a lot more fun for them.

So that meant the person who would be happy to give Hiccup their company was none other than the young woman who would soon to be his wife, and that was Astrid. Astrid could understand right away that when Hiccup looked at the ocean, it always got him thinking about charting unmapped new territories and exploring new lands. If he did both of those things, then it also presented Hiccup the chance to come across many new dragons and new cultures, and Astrid wouldn't mind in living that life.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't be able to do that since Hiccup's father wanted him to not only take over the role of chief in the future, but to settle down and start a family. Despite the fact Hiccup thought it was much too soon for him to be thinking about that stuff, Stoick already had a talk with him and he did propose to Astrid before he left. Hiccup knew that right when a year had gone by and he was finished with dragon awareness for Corona, then preparations for his wedding would begin once he got back.

At least, the preparations will happen as soon as Hiccup and Astrid announced their engagement, since they did promise to keep it a secret until Hiccup returned to Berk. He was absolutely positive that Astrid could keep a straight face and not let anybody in the village, not even their friends, suspect that she was hiding something from them. Right now, Hiccup expected his fiancée to be giving their friends such a hard time in the dragon training academy, since they always said that her missions were so hard.

What Hiccup didn't know at the moment was that he had been so focused on Astrid that he barely even noticed Rapunzel calling his name or waving a hand in front of him. Only a minute passed until Rapunzel decided to take on a more serious approach to get Hiccup's direction, so she picked up her menu, and used it to smack him on the head.

"Hey, what was that for?" Hiccup asked in annoyance, as he began to rub the top of his head, while hoping that the pain would go away, but it wasn't helping for him at all.

"I'm sorry to do that, Hiccup, but you weren't paying me any attention, and if you want, I could have Frank to bring back a bag of ice for your head. . ." Rapunzel suggested.

"No, that's alright, I'm sure that the pain will be gone eventually, and Rapunzel, I'm sorry for ignoring you, I was just thinking about the girl I'm going to marry." Hiccup said.

'I remember that you did talk about her when we were all back in that bookstore earlier today," Rapunzel replied, before taking a moment to think. "Isn't her name Astrid?"

"Yes, that's her name, and even though it's only been a day that has passed so far, I can't help but wonder if deep down inside, she misses me a lot." Hiccup responded.

"I'm sure that Astrid's doing fine, because she knows that the reason you're here is to present something from your village that could help my kingdom." Rapunzel assured.

"Well, I think that I've already made a good start, you know, with the four young girls that you've brought over to Toothless not too long ago today." Hiccup mentioned.

"That's right, Hiccup, so now, you just have four thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six people left, and the entire kingdom will have met a dragon." Rapunzel pointed out.

"Considering that my stay here in Corona has a total of about three hundred and sixty-four days now, I believe it shouldn't come as such a big problem for me." Hiccup said.

"Great, and perhaps you could give the villagers a ride on Toothless and teach them how to ride a dragon themselves, but it depends on how many can fit." Rapunzel replied.

"Only two people are able to fit on Toothless, and he can't handle the weight of any more than that amount, but yeah, I don't think Toothless will mind." Hiccup explained.

After saying that, Hiccup brought one of his hands down to gently rub the top of his best friend's scaly head, to which Toothless made a purring sound from the affection.

"So, bud, even though that I'll probably even know what your answer is, you don't mind if we let all the people in Rapunzel's kingdom take a ride on you?" Hiccup asked.

Right away, the dragon nodded his head, as if he knew that Hiccup couldn't be able to do the dragon awareness without his help, and they'll be a team for the whole time.

"It's good to see Toothless doesn't mind, so anyway, I think that we should decide on what's going to be our main course before Frank comes back." Rapunzel reminded.

"Yes, I agree, but whatever the main course is, could it not have any meat, whether it's fish or chicken, because I'm not such a fan of that kind of food." Hiccup requested.

"Of course, and by the way, I learned in one of my lessons that there's a name for people who never have meat, and that they're called vegetarians." Rapunzel explained.

"Really, then I guess that I can add it to the imaginary list of many things that I am, which are inventor, dragon rider, chief's son, to name just a few." Hiccup declared.

The princess nodded with a smile, then looked down to her menu, and that's when Hiccup knew that he had to stay quiet so Rapunzel could decide on their main course. Searching for a meat-free item was going to be quite easy for Rapunzel, due to the fact that there were a lot of items, which made it even more hard to choose just one.

"You know, Hiccup, it would be so much better for me to pick something from this menu if you could tell me what kind of food that you like." Rapunzel recommended.

"Okay, but I just need a moment to think about it, and then I'll tell you, because it's been a while since somebody has asked me that question before." Hiccup replied.

After he saw Rapunzel give a nod in approval, Hiccup started thinking of all the different kinds of food that he knows has been served in Berk ever since he was born. Hiccup knew that the villagers usually got their meat from animals, such as sheep and boars, which were always killed to become a meal for people in the Great Hall. While others went right ahead with eating the meat that was served, Hiccup chose not to join in with them, most likely out of respect for the lives of all those animals.

However, he did happen to enjoy the bread over the years, but only if it wasn't so hard and stale, which is typically normal for villagers who've tasted it back on Berk. If the bread had freshly churned butter that was made with the milk that they got from Berk's cattle, then it gave the bread a better flavor for Hiccup when he ate it. Either way, Hiccup decided that he didn't want to keep Rapunzel waiting any longer, since it would probably take him all afternoon to think of what's his favorite food.

"On second thought, Rapunzel, you can go back to looking for the main course, and like I said, if it doesn't have meat, then I won't mind eating it at all." Hiccup said.

"Actually, Hiccup, I may not have to do any more searching through this menu, so how do you feel about enjoying a few slices of meat-free pizza?" Rapunzel asked.

"Sure, that sounds good to me," Hiccup replied, and just when those words left his mouth, a noise was made loud enough to get the attention of all four of them.

The noise belonged to the restaurant's doors opening, and it wasn't only Frank that came out the building, but another man who was carrying a barrel with his arms. Both the dragon and his rider could already smell the fish that had to be inside the barrel, considering its large size, and Toothless licked his lips with excitement. Frank had been carrying a silver tray which held a basket of warm breadsticks, with two bowls of different sauces, and another bowl filled with many types of fruit.

"Your appetizers have arrived!" Frank announced proudly, before lowering the silver tray and placing the basket of bread sticks and three bowls down on the table.

Toothless looked like he was getting ready to pounce on the man carrying the barrel full of fish, but decided on holding back until the man was a good distance away.

"I'm sorry if I kept you and your friends waiting for so long, Your Royal Highness, it's just it took some time to find so many fish for Mr. Haddock's dragon." Frank said.

"Oh, Frank, there's no need to apologize, I knew it would take a while to get the food, and besides, me and Hiccup kept ourselves busy talking." Rapunzel replied.

"I'm glad to hear that, Your Royal Highness, so did you and Mr. Haddock decide on a main course while I was gone, or do you still need more time?" Frank asked.

"No, that's not necessary, because we've made a decision, and we'd like to share a cheese pizza. . .and by the way, where's our drinks?" Rapunzel questioned.

Frank looked at the silver tray that he had been carrying and his eyes widened to notice that he forgot the drinks that his current customers were now expecting.

"My goodness, I didn't bring your drinks with me," Frank said, before taking a step back. "Please enjoy your food while I go back inside to get them." He added.

"We will." Hiccup responded happily, as Frank turned himself around, then walked into the restaurant, with the other man right behind him and closing the doors.

Before either the princess or the Viking could say anything, Pascal began eating the grapes in the bowl of fruit, while Toothless dug his mouth in the barrel of fish.

"Well, Hiccup, what are you waiting for," Rapunzel said, before taking a breadstick out of the basket. "Let's have a taste of our appetizer now that it's out here."

Hiccup picked a breadstick at random and could see that its' color was golden brown, while feeling warm above his fingers, but not enough to actually burn them. What he didn't know was that all of the breadsticks had been brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with garlic salt, which was sure to give a pleasant taste. He looked up to see Rapunzel break her own bread stick in two equal pieces, dip one of those pieces into the bowl of alfredo sauce, before she took a bite of it.

The Viking decided to do the same thing, and dipped the piece of his breadstick into the alfredo sauce, then took a bite, and that's when both his eyes widened. Rapunzel noticed the look on Hiccup's face and she wanted to ask him if he was okay, but the girl suddenly remembered that she still was eating her breadstick. When she saw his mouth form a smile, Rapunzel changed her mind about talking to Hiccup and went back to enjoying the taste of the breadstick in her mouth.

Even though he wanted to savor the piece of breadstick, Hiccup knew that he had to swallow it, or else, he probably would've choked on it, so he did just that. After, Hiccup went on to the next piece, but this time, he dipped it into the bowl of marinara sauce, which he found to be different, but tasty as the alfredo sauce. Once Rapunzel was finished with both pieces of her breadstick, she looked at Hiccup to say something, but stopped when the restaurant's doors came open. Frank came walking out while holding a silver tray that held only two drinks in wooden cups, and he set each of them down on the table when he reached it.

"Here are your raspberry lemonades, and once again, I do apologize for not bringing them with me earlier, so anyway, how are the breadsticks?" Frank asked.

"Man, they're absolutely delicious, and I really mean that, like I never had food this good when I was in Berk, but Rapunzel, what you do think?" Hiccup gushed.

Rapunzel couldn't help but giggle from Hiccup's excitement, although Pascal and Toothless didn't bother noticing, since they were too busy eating their own food.

"I think they've always been great, and I should know, Hiccup, because I've had them in the past, and it's good to see you like them too." Rapunzel answered.

"That's right, and I like them so much that I'm certainly going to have a lot more of the breadsticks while I'm staying in your kingdom." Hiccup announced proudly.

"Well, Mr. Haddock, although I'm glad to hear that, I advise that you shouldn't eat too many or else you won't have room for the main course." Frank mentioned.

"Oh, right, well in that case, I'll just have at least two more of them and then I'll make myself wait for. . .Rapunzel, what's the main course again?" Hiccup asked.

"Cheese pizza, but if you're allergic to cheese, Hiccup, then I could pick something else in the menu for both of us." Rapunzel suggested, while looking at him.

"No, I'm not allergic, and you made an excellent choice, Rapunzel, so please don't change it, because Frank probably sent the order to the cooks already." Hiccup replied.

"Yes, I did, Mr. Haddock, and since you and the princess have your drinks now, that means I can just go back inside and make sure that your pizza doesn't get burnt." Frank said.

He did a bow before turning around, and walking back into the restaurant while closing its' doors behind him, and after he was gone, Hiccup and Rapunzel returned to eating their breadsticks. By the time that they were all finished, the basket was left with only crumbs at the bottom, and the bowls had little sauce in them, so Rapunzel stacked the bowls in the basket to make Frank's job a little easier.

"So, Hiccup, what would you like to do after this lunch is over?" Rapunzel asked, before using her napkin to clean her lips and fingers. "I mean, it was my idea for us to come to this restaurant, so do you have any ideas?"

The only idea that Hiccup could think of at the moment was for him and Toothless to go flying, but he believed that the dragon wanted to wait until sunset so they can take a lap around Corona while enjoying the view. If Rapunzel and her chameleon friend were to go along with them, Hiccup wasn't too sure that they would handle the speed, because Toothless usually loves it when the two of them go at a very fast pace when flying.

"Sorry, Rapunzel, there's nothing that comes to mind," Hiccup lied, and he truly felt terrible for doing so. "You know much more about the kingdom than I do, maybe you could think of something for us to do next?"

"Of course, Hiccup, and perhaps when you have a lot more knowledge of Corona later, then you'll come up with a lot of great ideas, so how does that sound?" Rapunzel asked, while having a grin on her face.

"Like I said before, it sounds good to me." Hiccup replied, grinning back, as they waited patiently for their main course, and not stopping their reptile friends from finishing the rest of their food at the same time.


	14. Proof of a True Artist

"Now, did that meal certainly hit the spot, or did it not?" Rapunzel asked, as she and Hiccup walked out of the restaurant with their reptile friends, but not before saying goodbye to Frank, in addition to telling him that they enjoyed the food, his service, and they would be coming back another time.

"Yes, it did, Rapunzel, now I don't have to worry about my stomach making any more noises for the next few hours, so tell me, Your Royal Highness, what's our next fun activity, since you did agree to come up with something for us to do." Hiccup answered, while he stood to face the young woman.

"That's right, and I just need a moment to think. . ." Rapunzel said, and not even a lot of time had passed by before she spoke up again.

"Oh, I know! Let's go make some pretty drawings on the streets!" She recommended, hoping that Hiccup would be up for the idea as well.

"Sure, but if we're going to use charcoal, I left mine deep in my basket, which is still back up in my room of your castle." Hiccup mentioned.

"Don't worry, Hiccup, we don't have to go back, because charcoal isn't what we need for this, but different colors of chalk." Rapunzel replied.

"I'm guessing that chalk must be used to draw or write too and it must be pretty great if it comes in more than one color." Hiccup responded.

"It is, Hiccup, because it helps any drawing stand out a lot better, and perhaps you could take a bunch of it back to Berk." Rapunzel suggested.

"Maybe I should actually try out the chalk first before I make that decision, so where's the best place to make a street drawing?" Hiccup asked.

"Just follow me, Hiccup, and we'll get there in no time at all," Rapunzel declared, before she began to lead all of her friends down the street.

As soon as they started walking, Hiccup was already imagining of how fun it would be for him to create a drawing with a color that wasn't black. Not that he didn't mind using a charcoal pencil in Berk, there had been a few occasions when Hiccup felt a desire to have colors like red and orange, so he could produce a dragon's fire, or colors of green and blue for the trees and roots in the cove, as well as the waterfall and pond in the area. Hiccup wasn't really quite sure about what kind of drawing to make that could manage to stop the villagers in their tracks and have them take a second look at the drawing, or even a third look for that matter.

Even though he drew Toothless many times in the past, Hiccup couldn't imagine how the people of Corona would feel about a drawing of a dragon on one of the streets in this kingdom, so it had to be something different. A part of Hiccup believed that he shouldn't think too hard about what to draw, and the idea will just come to him, while another part assumed that their destination would be coming soon, so he had to think of an idea fast. In the end, Hiccup decided to simply relax, so that way, he wouldn't be too stressed out and not be able to even hold the chalk in his hands. Since he didn't want their walk to have awkward silence, Hiccup walked to Rapunzel's side so they could have a conversation to pass the time.

"Hey, Rapunzel, so what were the type of drawings that you made when you used chalk, because I'm just interested." Hiccup inquired.

"I've created drawings for Corona's symbol of the sun, lots of trees, birds, and other animals, as well as lanterns and stars." Rapunzel replied.

"Wow, that must be a lot, so would I happen to find any of these drawings right on the streets here, or back in the castle?" Hiccup asked.

"Occasionally, I like to make drawings on the streets, but when I'm in the castle, I have a lot more room to myself." Rapunzel answered.

"That's good, so Rapunzel, are you sure that there's going to be a lot of free space for us when we get to this street?" Hiccup inquired.

"If people have already made drawings, they'll gladly remove them to give as much available space for their princess." Rapunzel responded.

"So chalk isn't permanent, I mean, you could just use things like soap and water if you wanted to get rid of it, right?" Hiccup asked.

"You also need a bucket for the water, and a bunch of scrubbing brushes, so yes, the chalk is gone if you use those things." Rapunzel confirmed.

Hiccup was about to say something when they arrived at a specific part of the street, and he could tell why it wasn't like the others.

A total of eight small chalk drawings were already done on the ground, and Hiccup took a glimpse to see what each of them looked like. One had a few trees, another had a pink bunny rabbit, while one featured the sun and a sailboat, there was another that had a smile with two oranges for the eyes, an apple for the nose, and a banana for the mouth. He also saw a drawing which had a sun and white mountains, along with two featuring flowers, but they weren't the same, and finally, a drawing of yellow fruit, which Hiccup believed to be none other than lemons.

"Whoa, the villagers are really talented when it comes to art, so do you think they'll like whatever drawing I make?" Hiccup asked.

"Just as long as it's appropriate for everyone to see, then you're allowed make something truly wonderful." Rapunzel answered.

"Well, that's a problem, because the only thing that I can think of to draw is a dragon, so it that appropriate?" Hiccup inquired.

"Yes, but only if it doesn't manage to scare any of the villagers, and what kind of dragon did you have in mind?" Rapunzel asked.

"I've drawn many types of dragons in the past, but most of the time, it's usually Toothless that I draw." Hiccup responded.

"So just go ahead and draw him if you want, and the only colors that you'll need are black and green." Rapunzel advised.

"That's good to know, Rapunzel, and I'll do my best to have my drawing not look so scary as possible." Hiccup reminded.

When a group of citizens who were surrounding the chalk drawings noticed Rapunzel, they all gave a bow for her, then one of them came forward, with the assumption that their Princess was here so she could make a chalk drawing of her own.

"Your Highness, it's good to see you come to this part of the village, so may I ask why you're here?" The villager asked.

"Me and my friend would like to make a drawing, but I was hoping if there could be more space for us." Rapunzel replied.

"Of course, Your Highness, I'll tell everyone to remove their drawings so that you can have all the space you need." The villager said.

"Thank you very much, and I'm sorry if it's too much to ask, but nonetheless, I'd really appreciate it." Rapunzel responded.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, there's no need to apologize, and you shouldn't have to wait too long." The villager promised.

Rapunzel smiled while giving a nod of her head, before she, along with Hiccup and their friends, watched as the villager told the others that they had to get rid of their drawings, and luckily, none of them argued when they were told the reason why. Just a few minutes had passed until all of the chalk drawings were erased from the ground and each of the villagers had left the area too, but not before somebody gave Rapunzel a basket full of big chalk sticks, with one for every color of the rainbow.

"So, Hiccup, please hold a hand out for me." Rapunzel requested, as she looked for the green and black chalk sticks in the basket.

Hiccup did exactly what Rapunzel asked of him, then he looked down to see two chalk sticks in the palm of his hand.

"Now I'm sure that those are both the colors you'll need in order to draw Toothless, right?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yes, and Rapunzel, if you don't mind me asking, what do you plan to draw with the chalk?" Hiccup inquired.

"The floating lights, they're my favorite thing to draw, and I've even painted them on a few walls in the castle." Rapunzel revealed.

"I'd really like to see those walls sometime, so what colors do you usually need to paint them?" Hiccup asked.

"For the lanterns, I use yellow and orange and for a night sky, I obviously use the color of blue." Rapunzel explained.

"Hey, Rapunzel, please know that I'm only curious when I ask this, but are your drawings detailed?" Hiccup questioned.

"Yes, they are, and don't worry, Hiccup, it's not like we're having a competition to see which drawing is better." Rapunzel answered.

"I didn't think it would be a competition, it's just that I don't believe my drawing will end up looking so good." Hiccup claimed.

"What makes you say that?" Rapunzel asked, as she wondered why Hiccup would have a negative thought about his artwork.

"Maybe it would be better to find a spot comfortable for us to sit before we continue this conversation." Hiccup suggested.

Rapunzel nodded in agreement, and they sat down on a bench nearby, with Toothless lying down next to where Hiccup was sitting, and Pascal remained on Rapunzel's shoulder, while Hiccup put both of the chalk sticks that he was holding back into the basket.

"There's not really much to tell, but I used to be feel very proud of one particular drawing of Toothless." Hiccup said.

"So what was the problem," Rapunzel asked. "Did the drawing not turn out how you hoped it would?" She guessed.

"No, the drawing turned out great, but when I showed it to someone, they asked if it was a deformed lizard." Hiccup replied.

"Well, clearly, that person doesn't know real art when they see it, so anyway, who was this person?" Rapunzel inquired.

"Just one of my friends, but it doesn't matter who, because they don't consider art to be so much fun." Hiccup answered.

"What? How can anybody believe that art isn't fun, maybe I should visit Berk and prove that person otherwise." Rapunzel proposed.

"Really, you'd want to come to Berk, then you must know that it's not quite the same as Corona." Hiccup reminded.

"It wouldn't hurt to find out for myself, since I never got to spend time in any neighboring islands due to my lessons." Rapunzel mentioned.

"Perhaps you could come after my stay here in your kingdom is over, because I'm usually the best guide to Berk." Hiccup advised.

"I would love that, Hiccup, so are we going to use this chalk now, or do you want to do something else instead?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh, I still want to make a drawing, but most of the ones that I've done in Berk were mostly just diagrams." Hiccup responded.

"How about we bring our drawings together, and have it be a dragon flying through the floating lanterns?" Rapunzel recommended.

"Yeah, that's a good idea, so how about I'll draw Toothless first, and you'll do the lanterns all around him next?" Hiccup suggested.

"I guess you'll be needing these back." Rapunzel said, as she took the green and black chalk sticks out of the basket and gave them to Hiccup.

They walked over to the spot with all the space that was available for their drawings, and Hiccup got himself down on both of his knees. Hiccup began his drawing by using the black chalk to make the Night Fury's body first, and then the green chalk to draw the dragon's eyes. It didn't take Hiccup such a long time to finish the drawing, since he sketched Toothless about a million times already in his notebook.

"So, Rapunzel, what you do think?" Hiccup asked, as he got back up to stand on his feet, or rather, his human foot and prosthetic leg.

"I think that it looks wonderful, and so I promise that I'll be very careful not to ruin it when I draw my lanterns." Rapunzel answered.

"Okay, thanks." Hiccup said, before putting the chalk sticks that he used back in the basket, and taking out the ones Rapunzel needed.

"Here you go." Hiccup added, while he let the chalk sticks roll carefully down from on the palm of his hand, and onto the palm of hers.

"Thank you, Hiccup." Rapunzel replied, then she carefully knelt down to the cobblestone street, and started to work on her lanterns.

By the time that Rapunzel was finished, many lanterns of different colors and sizes were all around Hiccup's drawing of Toothless in a circle. She also managed to successfully draw a dark blue sky in between and all around the lanterns, which made for a magnificent chalk picture.

"Wow, Rapunzel, your lanterns are amazing, and it's as if my best friend is flying through a sky full of pretty lights." Hiccup complimented.

"So, Hiccup, you don't think there's too much of them, or maybe they shouldn't have been too close to your drawing." Rapunzel inquired.

"Nope, you didn't overdo it with the lanterns, and I think having them close to my drawing just makes them look better." Hiccup replied.

"Hiccup, that's very sweet of you to say," Rapunzel said, as she got herself up from the ground to wrap both of her arms around Hiccup.

Although the Viking was a little taken aback from the princess' hug, he returned the affection by patting a hand on her back for a few times. Hiccup had to admit it was kinda nice being hugged by Rapunzel, and he almost wanted to bring his own arms around her when he noticed that a bunch of villagers had stopped to take a look at the embrace that she was giving him, so it was time for it to end.

"Umm. . .Rapunzel, maybe you should let go of me now because there's people starting to stare at us." Hiccup whispered softly.

Rapunzel quickly brought her head off from Hiccup's armored chest and turned left and right to see whatever he was talking about. She instantly made a few steps back to give Hiccup some space, but that didn't stop her face from becoming more flushed by the second.

"I guess that hug I gave you was a little too long, right?" Rapunzel asked, then she let a few awkward laughs come out of her mouth.

"Yeah, but you and I are friends, so it's okay to give each other a hug sometimes." Hiccup assured, while putting a hand on her shoulder.

Of course." Rapunzel responded, and a couple of seconds went by with them just staring at one another before Hiccup spoke up again.

"Hey, Rapunzel, do you think that we should leave our name next to the drawing, so that nobody will get rid of it?" Hiccup suggested.

"Yes, that's a great idea." Rapunzel replied, as she dropped each of the chalk sticks she used back into the basket and took out a new one.

"We could do that by using our favorite color, so I mostly prefer to use the color purple, but Hiccup, what's your favorite?" Rapunzel asked.

Hiccup's favorite color used to be none other than blue, from the light blue of the sky he would wistfully stare at from either the window of the forge or his house, to the churning, blue-green blends of the sea where his mother had disappeared into many years ago. He would watch the sea as a small boy, day after day, waiting for her to return, and as he got older, Hiccup adored the blue in Astrid's eyes. When Hiccup met Toothless, it was like coming across the black shadow he always saw in the sky who gave him his first taste of victory.

The large, dark mass in the corners of his eye that jolted his stomach in a wild combination of fear and excitement at the exact same time. Seeing black gave Hiccup a jittery sensation of flight and power and purpose, to the point where he started wearing much darker clothing. Even though black was a shade of despair for many people, since they wore it for funerals usually, the color made Hiccup feel safe and loved.

"My favorite color is black." Hiccup answered, and as soon as those words left his mouth, Rapunzel looked in the basket and found his color.

Just like Hiccup had done earlier, Rapunzel let the chalk stick slide down from the palm of her hand to come onto the palm of Hiccup's own hand.

"Thanks, so I think that you should go first, since you're the princess, and there's the saying 'ladies first'." Hiccup said, while trying to be polite.

"Aren't you a gentleman?" Rapunzel asked, before she got down on her knees again to write down the phrase 'Created by Rapunzel, princess of Corona.'

Once the young woman was finished, Hiccup knelt down to put the phrase 'and Hiccup, dragon rider of Berk' right under her phrase.

"There, so now when people come by this street corner, they'll know this drawing was done by the princess and her friend." Rapunzel said.

"Great," Hiccup replied, as he dropped his chalk stick into the basket and Rapunzel did the same with hers.

"So, Rapunzel, can we go somewhere to wash our hands, or do you want to make another drawing?" Hiccup asked.

"You're the one who's new here in Corona, so I'll let you make that decision." Rapunzel answered.

"Well, I'd like to wash my hands, and perhaps both of us could do something new after?" Hiccup requested.

"Okay," Rapunzel said, as she put the basket of chalk sticks on the bench they sat on earlier. "I know a fountain nearby that we can use."

Upon hearing this, Hiccup let the princess take the lead as he and Toothless followed her to the location of the fountain. Hiccup let Rapunzel go first in washing her hands from all the dusty chalk and he patiently waited until she was done.

"Rapunzel, didn't you tell me that everyone in the kingdom release lanterns on your birthday?" He asked.

"Yes, I did, Hiccup, so why you do ask?" Rapunzel inquired, as she became curious to what he had in mind.

"How would you like to take a flight with me and Toothless on your next birthday?" Hiccup suggested.

"I'd love to do that, and I can only imagine it'll be more fun to watch them in the sky." Rapunzel replied.

"What do you say that we shake on it, so we'll know that we made an agreement." Hiccup offered.

Once he finished washing his hands, Hiccup brought one of them up for Rapunzel to shake, which she did. Rapunzel felt happy to know that when her birthday comes, she'll be trying something new and different.


	15. Mr. Inferno & The Boat Ride

"So, Mr. Haddock, what do you want to do now, since it's your decision." Rapunzel reminded. "I'll give you some time to think." She added.

"Thanks, but maybe we should go find a bench first, because my brain works better if I'm sitting down somewhere." Hiccup replied.

Rapunzel nodded before the two of them, along with their reptile friends, walked for a while until they saw a nice and comfortable bench. The princess, black dragon, and green chameleon all stayed quiet as Hiccup carefully thought of what the next activity should be for them. As he did that, Hiccup drowned out the sounds around him, from the people playing their instruments to the ones selling food and clothing. Hiccup usually does this when he's designing something new, either for the benefit of him, Toothless, or the Vikings and dragons in Berk.

First, he decided to go over each of the activities that he and Rapunzel have already done, and exclude the things they've talked about. They read a fairy tale at a book store, then she brought four young girls for Toothless to meet personally, and later, they had lunch at a nice restaurant, and finally, they made a chalk drawing, which was more like a portrait foreshadowing what would happen on Rapunzel's next birthday. Unfortunately, Hiccup wasn't able to come up with a new activity other than flying, which he and Toothless would be doing tonight at sunset. Even though he didn't want to have Rapunzel disappointed, Hiccup knew that Rapunzel deserved to know the truth instead of be lied to.

"I'm sorry, Rapunzel, but I can't really think of anything new for us to do, and trust me, that's a very rare thing for me to say." Hiccup said.

A frown had begun to appear on Rapunzel's face from what she just heard, but a few seconds passed before it was gone when curiosity took over.

"Hiccup, what's that thing you have on your leg?" Rapunzel inquired, while using a finger to point at what she wanted to know more about.

The Viking looked down to see that Rapunzel was pointing at his dragon blade, which was attached to his right pant leg like it always was.

"Oh, this?" Hiccup asked, as he put a hand over the holster that the blade was in. "This is my Dragon Blade, and it's nicknamed 'Inferno'."

"So, how does it work and why do you use it?" Rapunzel inquired, while feeling glad that she and Hiccup had something new to discuss.

"For the past five years, me and Toothless have been charting unmapped territories, and during our travels, we sometimes come across wild and aggressive new dragons, so to command their respect and show them that I am one of their own, I invented this device to mimic dragon fire." Hiccup explained.

He carefully took the blade out of its holster to give Rapunzel a better look and he pointed to parts of the blade while describing how it worked.

"One end coats the blade in Monstrous Nightmare saliva, the other sprays Hideous Zippleback gas, all it takes is a spark and. . .boom!" Hiccup shouted.

Rapunzel and Pascal both jolted from Hiccup's imitation of a loud explosion, then they laughed a little before they let Hiccup continue talking.

"A built-in lighter ignites both ends, forcing testy dragons to keep their distance, and I can train any dragon and defend myself if necessary." Hiccup finished.

"Wow, Hiccup, that sounds really fun, so aren't you going to give us a show of you using your sword, because I'd really like to see that." Rapunzel said.

"Rapunzel, I don't really think this is the best place, considering there's a lot of people around, and I don't want someone to get hurt." Hiccup replied.

"I'm the princess, Hiccup, and with my voice, I can get everyone to stay at a far distance so that no one will be harmed at all." Rapunzel assured.

Although he didn't believe Corona had any enemies with dragons of their own, Hiccup wanted to save the Dragon Blade for more important occasions. Inferno was a sword that was made for lighting the darkness, not for stabbing enemies. Hiccup was fond of it; he'd gotten inspired after collecting a little bit of saliva from baby Monstrous Nightmares, which acted like kerosene, and observing that Hideous Zippleback gas could also be stored indefinitely, so he collected the gas, concentrated it and stored it in pellets, and set up a circuit through which the flammable gel could circulate and be ignited by a single click of a mechanism. Hiccup never preferred to use his Dragon Blade as entertainment for people, but he was willing to make an exception for today, and use it just once.

"Okay, Rapunzel, I'll do it," Hiccup said, as he got up from the bench. "You might need to stand on top of this bench to get everyone's attention."

Rapunzel made a wide mouthed smile, then she quickly rose from the bench and took Hiccup's hand to help get her bare feet on the wooden seat.

"Excuse me, everyone, but can I please have your attention?" Rapunzel asked, and she was surprised to see none of the villagers stop to look at her.

Rapunzel figured that she hadn't been loud enough, so instead of repeating what she just said, Rapunzel had chosen to give a loud and clear whistle. The princess raised her left and right index finger, which she put together to make an upside-down "v" shape before bringing them up to her mouth. She placed the tip of the "v" shape just under her tongue, behind her back teeth, and then closed her lips, making a small hole between her fingers. Finally, Rapunzel blew through the hole, producing a loud and shrill sound that managed to get a lot of villagers to stop walking and turn to face her. Only a few people had gotten her attention, but Rapunzel didn't think it was enough, so she kept on whistling until there was a very large crowd.

"Thank you all for bringing your undivided attention to your princess, but it's not me who I'd like for you to focus on right now, but a certain guest who came from the island of Berk, his name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and he'd like to show you something that's very incredible." Rapunzel announced.

Hiccup had to admit that he was impressed with not only how Rapunzel whistled but how she introduced him to the crowd of villagers gathered in front of them. All of a sudden, Hiccup realized that everyone was now looking at him, so he took a few deep breaths to relax his body before addressing his audience. He decided to repeat everything that he explained about Inferno to Rapunzel earlier to the villagers, and he could tell they were already impressed from the looks on their faces, even though Hiccup was just getting started, as he quickly thought of how to make this an interesting show for Corona's citizens. Luckily, it didn't take Hiccup that long to come up with an idea, but he wanted to make sure Rapunzel was away so that she wouldn't get hurt.

There wasn't any need for Hiccup to worry, since she was already standing with the rest of the spectators and waiting for Hiccup to start his show. First, Hiccup pressed a button to extend the telescoping and retractable blade, and placed his thumb on top of the thumb lighter's metal grinders. He pushed down with his thumb, which caused the blade to ignite in flames and everyone's eyes lit up in astonishment at the sight of the blade. Hiccup carefully swung the flaming sword over his head for about a few times, and he gave a small smile of seeing the reactions from his onlookers.

He knew that the people watching him would eventually get bored if he didn't do something different, so he pressed a button to retract the blade. The Viking pressed another button, which released the green and flammable gas, and Hiccup spun around once, so the gas was in a circle surrounding him. Fortunately for Hiccup, the gas wasn't too close to him, and it wasn't too far that it could reach any of the witnesses who were watching his performance. Once again, Hiccup used his thumb to push down on the lighter to make a spark, which caused the circle of gas to light on fire before dissipating instantly.

By this time, there was a look of amazement on every person's face, and Hiccup could even hear most, if not all of them make cheers and whoops of praise. He decided to make things a little more exciting, so Hiccup sprayed the gas in a few other shapes and motions, from a square and triangle to a squiggly line. Each of these techniques Hiccup did only made the cheering from his audience to become louder, but sadly for them, he couldn't go on with this forever. Hiccup put his fire sword back into its' holster, and then he held up both of his hands to quiet down the crowd, since he wanted to give his gratitude.

"Thank you all for taking the time to watch the display of Inferno, my Dragon Blade, and I hope that you enjoyed it very much." Hiccup declared.

After saying that verbal form of thankfulness, the villagers gave Hiccup a round of applause by clapping their hands and shouting out "bravo!". Hearing all of this loud and enthusiastic approval caused Hiccup to feel very proud of himself, which had been a feeling that was unsurprisingly familiar. It was like every time that the village cheered him on during the exams of dragon training ever since the day that he and Toothless became friends. Hiccup never sought fame or glory out of transferring his knowledge of Toothless' behavior to the other dragons, he simply used those techniques to keep himself safe, and to ensure that he could live to see another day and continue to help Toothless, because if it wasn't for Hiccup, the dragon could have been dead already.

The twenty-year old gave a bow before bringing his head up to catch sight of Rapunzel from the crowd, and he kept his eyes on just her and nobody else. If it hadn't been for the princess, then none of this would've happened at all, and he probably would've spent hours over thinking on what activity to do. Although he thought it wasn't such a good idea in the beginning, Hiccup now felt regret for being so hesitant about going through with showing Inferno. Once again, Hiccup managed to drown out the cheers coming from the audience as he continued to gaze at Rapunzel, while she did the exact same thing.

What neither of them had noticed happening was that the group of villagers Rapunzel had gathered for Hiccup's show began to part into smaller numbers. Just a single minute had passed until the villagers were all gone, but not without having a smile on their face, and also talking about the spectacle they saw. Both Toothless and Pascal kept quiet as they watched their human friends slowly walk toward one another while wondering what was going to occur next.

It wasn't until Hiccup and Rapunzel were practically inches apart when they threw their arms around each other's torso while commencing to laugh together. The chameleon and dragon simply looked on with raised eyebrows of confusion at the behavior they watched take place not so far away in front of them. After what had felt like forever, but was really just a few minutes, the bachelor and maiden pulled back and took a deep breath to calm themselves down.

"Now that wasn't so bad, right, Hiccup? I mean, nobody got hurt and the people all seemed to really enjoy watching you use your sword." Rapunzel said.

"Yeah, Rapunzel, it did feel great to hear them cheering, but that will have to be the last time too, since I don't use Inferno for entertainment." Hiccup replied.

Although she was a little disappointed to hear Hiccup say that, Rapunzel remembered that he didn't create the sword just so he could show it off for people.

"I understand, Hiccup, and I'm sure they'll keep replaying your show in their heads, considering nobody's ever seen that done before." Rapunzel mentioned.

Hiccup instantly began to think if maybe he should give a show of Inferno to the villagers more often, and not for every day, but every few weeks or month.

"You know, Rapunzel, I guess it wouldn't be so bad to show my fire sword more than once, but it can't happen all the time, just occasionally." Hiccup requested.

Rapunzel's face suddenly lit up with joy while she jumped up and down before she thought of a way for Hiccup to show Inferno a lot more often.

"I know, Hiccup, you could show Inferno once for every month of the year, so will you be able to use it eleven more times?" Rapunzel asked.

Even though it didn't seem like a big number, Hiccup did feel relieved that he wouldn't have to show his fire sword for every single day or week. Hiccup looked down to see that he had four Hideous Zippleback gas cartridges, and he thought about whether or not he should use all of them. In the end, Hiccup decided to save at least two of the cartridges and he'll use the other ones later on, so all in all, he agreed with Rapunzel's idea.

"Yeah, Rapunzel, I can use Inferno that many times, and it would be good to make use of the sword during the time I'm here in Corona." Hiccup said.

The princess' smile grew even bigger and she felt very happy inside from knowing that Hiccup didn't have a problem with what she suggested to him. Rapunzel started to believe Hiccup was feeling exhausted from swinging around Inferno, so she now wanted them to do an activity that was relaxing. Not only did it have to be something that wouldn't require Hiccup to use his hands, it also had to be an activity that's completely new for both of them. Just when she was about to feel like giving up, Rapunzel came up with an idea, and they didn't have to rely on Hiccup to use his hands for the activity. They could go on a gondola ride through or around the kingdom, and since a gondola does seat six, Toothless could be able to join them on the ride.

"Hiccup, how you would like to go on a gondola ride through the village canal?" Rapunzel asked. "Just so you know, a gondola is a boat." She added.

"Sure, Rapunzel, but do you know where the gondolas are?" Hiccup asked, and Rapunzel nodded before motioning for him and Toothless to follow her.

"I have a question, are these rides fun?" Hiccup inquired, as he wanted to know more about them before he actually went through with going on one.

"Trust me, Hiccup, a gondola ride is always a relaxing and entertaining experience, so I'm sure that you won't be left disappointed." Rapunzel assured.

"If you've taken a gondola ride many times, then you definitely know what it's like, so Rapunzel, can you please tell me what happens?" Hiccup asked.

"Each ride lasts about forty minutes, and you'll get to see breathtaking close views of all the houses that line up on the streets." Rapunzel explained.

To her delight, a smile had made its way onto Hiccup's face, and that's how Rapunzel knew he liked the sound of it, but she wanted to tell him more.

"That's not all, Hiccup, during the whole ride, you'll be serenaded with music by a singer and a musician who are both quite talented." Rapunzel said.

The only times that Hiccup ever got to hear songs in Berk was when he was a baby and his mother would sing lullabies to comfort him during a storm. Vikings had been known to break into song after drinking contests held in the Great Hall, but Hiccup preferred not to participate in those kind of activities.

"It sounds great so far, Rapunzel, but I have just one more question for you, will Toothless be able to fit in the gondola with us?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Well, it depends on the gondola's size, because if it's small, then Toothless' weight will probably cause the gondola to sink completely." Rapunzel answered.

Toothless instantly looked at Rapunzel as if he was genuinely offended by what she just said, so the princess felt it was necessary to clear things up.

"I don't mean you're heavy, Toothless, it's very important for a boat not to have too much weight, or else, it won't float on the water." Rapunzel explained.

She came towards Toothless and stoked the dragon's face, with her soft touch causing the Night Fury's green eyes to widen and also his black tail to wag. The Viking only stared in awe of the princess and his best friend bonding right before his very eyes, and it literally warmed Hiccup's heart as he saw it occur. Hiccup stepped back and watched as Rapunzel began to scratch under his friend's chin, and it was at that moment when he realized the direction of her hand.

Before he could even raise his hand in warning, Rapunzel's fingernails reached that special spot under the dragon's neck, causing Toothless to fall over. Rapunzel made a terrified squeak as she quickly yanked her hand back and horror filled her eyes as she kept them on just her hand and nothing else. Hiccup chuckled as he walked closer to Rapunzel and gently grabbed the girl's trembling hand in his own before leading it to the dragon's strong pulse.

"It's okay, Rapunzel, dragons have a spot just under their jaw that they love to have scratched, and if pressed just right, it sends them straight to sleep." Hiccup explained, as he saw Rapunzel relax a lot more from what he just told her.

Rapunzel turned to him with a smile so relieved and so wide that Hiccup couldn't help but burst into a round of laughter, which only grew when she joined in with him‚ and for a moment‚ they let themselves enjoy the sound of their musical giggles in unison. All of a sudden, Hiccup stopped laughing when he looked down to find that he still had his fingers intertwined with hers, but Hiccup didn't bother pulling them away.

Her hand felt warm to his own, petal like, so incredibly soft, like silk that had been washed a million times, and it was a touch Hiccup could get used to more often. Suddenly, Hiccup's brain made its big debut and he froze, sucking in a gasp through his teeth, before yanking his hand back like he'd been burned while every cell in his body careened to a stop, and Rapunzel stopped giggling to look at Hiccup in confusion.

"Hiccup, is everything okay?" Rapunzel asked, while starting to wonder if there was something she missed that would cause Hiccup to change his expression.

"Oh, yes, Rapunzel, everything's fine, I was just thinking if we don't take a gondola ride very soon, then it's going to get pretty dark out." Hiccup answered.

The princess' eyes suddenly widened from realizing that she and Hiccup haven't been spending the past few minutes to reach the kingdom's gondola dock. Even though it was possible for Hiccup and Rapunzel to have a gondola ride at night, neither of them wanted to wait until the evening to share the experience.

"You're right, Hiccup, it's going to be dinnertime later, and my parents don't approve of me being out so late, even if I have a guard with me." Rapunzel replied.

She was about to start walking toward the dock when Rapunzel felt a hand come on her shoulder, and she turned around to see that Toothless was still asleep.

"Maybe it's a good idea to wake up Toothless first, because we wouldn't want him to be worried sick about where the two of us went." Hiccup suggested.

"I agree, but I think that you should do it, Hiccup, you two have been best friends for years, so you know more about him than I do." Rapunzel responded.

Although he wondered if Rapunzel had only said that because she was still shaken up from unintentionally causing Toothless to fall asleep, Hiccup thought it was nice to hear, so he didn't bother asking with her. Hiccup took a few steps away from Toothless, then Rapunzel did the same thing, and she quickly covered her ears as Hiccup cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Icelandic Cod!" Hiccup shouted, and it was those two words that got the dragon to stand up on his four legs and face the boy with wide eyes and a gummy smile.

"Sorry, bud, I only said that to wake you up." Hiccup said, and Toothless' expression changed to a frown and he swatted the side of Hiccup's head with his tail fin.

"Hey!" Hiccup exclaimed as he rubbed his head to try and ease the pain, while Rapunzel couldn't help but giggle and she covered her mouth to hide her giggling.

"Nice try, Rapunzel, but I know you're laughing," Hiccup said, as he turned to see Rapunzel was tight-lipped, pretending as if she hadn't been laughing at all.

"Hiccup, I know this might be a silly question to ask you, but does your head hurt?" Rapunzel asked, and she saw Hiccup wince in agony as he nodded his head.

"If you don't mind, Hiccup, can you show me where it hurts the most?" Rapunzel inquired, as she thought of a way to help take the pain away from Hiccup's injury.

With one of his hands, Hiccup pointed to the spot where Toothless hit him and not long after he brought his hand down, Rapunzel stood up on the balls of her feet. By doing this, Rapunzel's face was now at the same level of Hiccup's own face, and she closed her lips before softly pressing them against Hiccup's cheek. Hiccup's eyes widened instantly as he felt Rapunzel's lips make contact with his skin, and his face simultaneously became flushed from the feeling it gave him. A few seconds had went by before Hiccup realized that Rapunzel only kissed his cheek to ease his pain, not because she liked him as more than a friend.

The boy quickly started to feel foolish for actually thinking that was the case, considering he had a fianceé, even though it wasn't made public in Berk yet. Not to mention that Rapunzel also had a boyfriend, who she was sure would become a fiancé too when he returned from visiting the neighboring kingdoms. Just because the princess wasn't engaged at the moment, it didn't mean that Hiccup could ever think she was available, especially since he wasn't either. Every time that Rapunzel would give him a smile, a hug, or even a kiss, Hiccup would remind himself that they were done out of feelings that were platonic.

"Does your head feel better now, Hiccup?" Rapunzel asked, but not before taking a few steps back to give Hiccup space and making sure to be facing him first.

"Yes, Rapunzel, it's much better, thanks." Hiccup replied, while trying hard not to blush. "Perhaps we should make our way to the gondola dock now?" He asked.

Rapunzel nodded her head before she and Hiccup went back to heading for the gondola dock, but not before Hiccup made sure Toothless was following them. The two human beings stayed quiet throughout the rest of the walk there, since they've already talked about what to expect when they took a gondola ride. Once they arrived, Hiccup could see that the dock was lined up with flat-bottomed rowing boats, which were much smaller than the ships they had on Berk.

However, none of these boats had enough space for Toothless, so he'd have to stay at the dock and wait for Hiccup and Rapunzel to come back on their gondola. Even though it'd take forty minutes, the Night Fury has been separated from Hiccup longer than that, so he was sure the dragon could deal with their time apart. The gondoliers and musicians had been in a conversation with each other, but when they saw the princess approaching, every one of them bowed their head.

"Your Highness, what a pleasant surprise!" One of the gondoliers exclaimed, while stepping forward. "I'm sure that you've come here to take a gondola ride?"

"Yes, that's right, but I won't be going alone," Rapunzel replied, as she turned to face Hiccup. "My friend here, Hiccup Haddock, plans to join me." She added.

All of the musicians and gondoliers took a long look at Hiccup from head to toe, which caused Hiccup to believe that these men didn't like what he was wearing. That didn't seem to be the case anymore when a smile appeared on their faces, and a few of the men came towards Hiccup since they had something to say.

"Oh, we remember you!" One of the gondoliers exclaimed. "You're the same boy who did that fire show in the village square, now that was truly a spectacle!"

Hiccup soon became pleased to know that most of these men, if not all of them, had seen his display of Inferno or at least heard about it from other people.

"Thanks, I'm glad you liked it, so as you already know, we want to go on a gondola, but we'd also want someone to play music for us." Hiccup requested.

"Don't worry, Mr. Haddock, that won't be a problem," The gondolier replied, before stepping to the side. "All you have to do is choose a gondola." He added.

Hiccup took a moment to look at the boats, but he realized it didn't really make any difference, especially because all of them have the same size and color.

"Well, I guess I'll choose. . .that one." Hiccup said, while pointing to a gondola, and he turned his head to face the Princess. "What do you think, Rapunzel?"

"I like it, Hiccup," Rapunzel answered, and she gave him a smile before turning back to the gondolier because there was a question she wanted to ask him.

"I want to ask you a question, sir, and even though I probably know what your answer will be, I'm still going to ask you anyway." Rapunzel announced.

The gondolier simply nodded his head, as he mentally prepared himself for whatever question the princess would be asking him in the next few seconds.

"Would it be possible for Hiccup's best friend, Toothless, to come onto the gondola too?" Rapunzel asked, while looking over to where the Night Fury sat.

Rapunzel waited patiently as the gondolier glanced at the black dragon, but when a frown come onto the man's face, Rapunzel knew it meant bad news.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, I don't think your gondola, or any other gondola here is strong enough to carry Mr. Haddock's dragon." The gondolier responded.

Although he felt disappointed to hear that, Hiccup wasn't all too surprised because already believed it was unlikely Toothless could be able to join them. Hiccup appreciated the fact Rapunzel still asked the gondolier if it was possible, and he found it necessary to let Toothless know they'll be gone for a while.

"Hey, bud," Hiccup said, as he approached his best friend, who quickly gave the boy his attention. "There's something I have to tell you, and it's not good."

Toothless quickly made a moaning sound, as if he already knew what Hiccup was about to tell him, but he didn't try to stop his human from saying more.

"You can't come with me and Rapunzel on the gondola because there isn't enough room, but the ride won't take long, just forty minutes." Hiccup explained.

Hiccup stepped back in surprise as the Night Fury walked away and made himself comfortable as possible by laying down on the cobblestone street.

"Sorry, Rapunzel, but I need to talk to Toothless for a minute." Hiccup said, hoping she wasn't upset their gondola ride would be delayed for a moment.

To Hiccup's relief, Rapunzel smiled and also gave a nod of her head, which meant she understood, so Hiccup made his way to his friend on the street. He could already tell from Toothless' face that the dragon was sad that he couldn't go on the gondola ride, so Hiccup thought of what he could say to make Toothless feel better.

"C'mon, bud, look at me," Hiccup begged as he got down on his good leg and waited for Toothless to face him, which happened in less than a minute.

"I won't be gone forever," Hiccup said while he put his hands under the dragon's chin. "The ride will only take less than an hour, and I'll be right back!"

Despite what Hiccup just told him, Toothless made a whining sound, so Hiccup pondered of how to make it up to him later, and luckily, he had the perfect idea.

"How about this, bud, we'll go for a flight around the kingdom at sunset, just like we used to do back on Berk, so what do you say?" Hiccup asked earnestly.

Only a few seconds passed before Toothless had a wide grin on his face and his tongue lolling out at the same time, and Hiccup knew what that look meant. Toothless was happy because he now had something to look forward to, and better yet, it was an activity that he could get to do with Hiccup and no one else.

"Atta boy! That's it!" Hiccup exclaimed, as he hugged the dragon's muzzle and petted his snout, and he let Toothless lick his face for a bit before walking away.

"Just you and me, a flight around Corona tonight, I promise!" Hiccup shouted, and he could see that Toothless wasn't moping around on the street anymore.

Since the Night Fury was now in a good mood, Hiccup could be able to enjoy his gondola ride with Rapunzel without having to worry about his best friend.

"So, I'm guessing Toothless is okay now?" Rapunzel asked, even though she didn't think it was necessary to ask Hiccup that from seeing the smile on his face.

"Oh, he's better than okay, Rapunzel, he's great." Hiccup answered, before his smile was replaced with a frown. "I'm sorry for making you wait." He added.

"Hiccup, you don't have to apologize," Rapunzel said quietly as she put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "I wouldn't have gotten on the ride if Pascal was upset."

It made Hiccup feel good to know that Rapunzel could relate to him when it came to his friendship with Toothless, but then something else came to his mind. The image of Pascal being the size of Toothless caused Hiccup to chuckle at first, and soon enough, he was laughing hysterically while being close to tears. He didn't bother to notice Rapunzel taking her hand off his shoulder and she could only imagine what it was exactly that got Hiccup to laugh all of a sudden.

Rapunzel didn't think it could be what she just said to him because she hadn't meant to be funny, she wanted Hiccup to know she could empathize with him. She would never find out if she didn't ask him, so Rapunzel lightly shook Hiccup's shoulder, but when that didn't work, she brought up a hand to his cheek. Feeling the princess' hand make contact with his skin once again caused Hiccup to open his eyes and take a few deep breaths which put an end to his laughter. Even as this happened in front of her, Rapunzel didn't say a word because she was actually waiting until Hiccup was completely quiet so she could ask what she wanted to know from him.

"Now that you can hear me, Hiccup, could you please tell me what were you laughing about?" Rapunzel asked as she took her hand off from his freckled cheek.

Instead of saying his answer out loud, Hiccup moved a little closer so that he could whisper it into Rapunzel's ear, and Hiccup stepped back to give her space. A couple of seconds went by until Rapunzel looked at Pascal first, and she moved her head to glimpse at Toothless before starting to giggle. Hiccup went ahead in joining Rapunzel while all the gondoliers and musicians kept quiet and wondered why the teenagers were laughing so much. In the end, they decided it wasn't any of their business, but one of them did clear his throat so that Rapunzel and Hiccup could give their attention.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you two still want to go on a gondola ride, because we understand if you've changed your mind." The gondolier said.

"No, we didn't change our mind," Hiccup replied while shaking his head. "We're sorry to keep you waiting, but my dragon was upset. . ." He added.

"There's no need for you to explain, Mr. Haddock," The gondolier responded as he held his hands up. "What matters right now is your gondola ride."

Hiccup gave a nod of his head in agreement before him and Rapunzel walked over to one of the gondolas, with a gondolier and musician following.

"After you, Your Highness." Hiccup said, as he smiled to Rapunzel and helped her get into the small boat first, then he took a seat right next to her.

"Thank you, Hiccup." Rapunzel answered while turning her head to smile back at him, but then felt her cheeks flush from the close proximity with Hiccup.

Their faces were practically inches away from each other's, and both of them looked away as the musician got on the boat, along with the gondolier. As the gondolier used an oar to pull the boat further away from the dock, the musician had begun to play the accordion strapped to his shoulders. The musician also started to sing a serenade to the music from his accordion, which caused Hiccup and Rapunzel to become less anxious and relax. Both of them sat back in their seats before exhaling at the same time as the gondolier rowed the boat into the kingdom's tranquil canal.

With music filling the air, Rapunzel and Hiccup turned their heads to gaze up at all the buildings which reflected in the shimmering water. Since his shoulders were covered up with leather, Hiccup didn't even notice that Rapunzel had comfortably rested her head on one of them. When he finally became aware of what Rapunzel just did, Hiccup felt his cheeks begin to flush and he wondered of what he should do now. He believed Rapunzel wanted to feel comfortable, so Hiccup thought it would've been rude of him to ask her to take her head off his shoulder.

It was a little embarrassing for Hiccup, considering they weren't the only people on the boat, but it's not like this was supposed to be a date. Even though they were sitting right next to each other, and there was music playing and beautiful sights around them, it would stay platonic. Once again, Hiccup reminded himself that neither of them were single, and Rapunzel was only helping him see what a gondola ride had to offer. With this ride obviously being his first, Hiccup was enjoying it so far, and he wouldn't really mind taking more of them during his time in Corona.

Although none of these future gondola rides would be able to include Toothless, if Hiccup had Rapunzel's company, then they won't be so bad. Suddenly, Hiccup started to think if whether or not it would be okay for him to put his arm around her shoulder, but only as a friendly gesture. Hiccup was worried that Rapunzel wouldn't think of it that way and she would get the wrong message and believe Hiccup had feelings for her. Nevertheless, Hiccup would never get to find out if he didn't go through with it at all, so he let out a yawn while bringing his hand up to stifle it.

As he did this, the Viking quickly raised his left arm just to pretend he was stretching for a moment before resting his arm on Rapunzel's shoulder. Hiccup had expected Rapunzel to take her head off his shoulder or try to pull away from him, but to his surprise, she didn't do either of those things. This seemed to confirm that Rapunzel trusted Hiccup enough to give her this kind of affection because she knew that he was giving it as her friend. Neither Hiccup nor Rapunzel said a word as they continued to enjoy the serenade being sung and they stayed like this for the remainder of the ride.

Even as the gondola headed back to the dock and the musician had stopped singing, the two young adults didn't bother getting up from their seats. It wasn't until the gondolier had cleared his throat when they snapped out of their peaceful state, and also instantly moved away from each other. Since both the musician and gondolier were out of the boat already, Hiccup was the next person to get off, but he didn't fail to remember Rapunzel. Hiccup thoughtfully lent out a hand for Rapunzel to take so that she could carefully step onto the dock without falling and getting herself hurt badly. Instead of saying thanks to Hiccup for helping her, Rapunzel stared at his face, and Hiccup stared at hers until someone else had broken the silence.

"So, guys, what did you think of the gondola ride?" The gondolier asked, as he found the silence rather awkward and thought it was better to talk.

"I really enjoyed it, sir, both the scenery and music were great, and I'd have no problem with having more boat rides in the future." Hiccup answered.

Rapunzel couldn't help but find it adorable how Hiccup gushed about the gondola ride just now, but she didn't find it necessary to tell him that.

"I'm glad to hear that, Hiccup," Rapunzel said before turning to face the gondolier. "The ride was very relaxing, sir, just like every one before it."

"It makes me happy to know this gondola ride has managed to satisfy not only the princess, but her friend here as well." The gondolier replied.

After saying that, the gondolier bowed his head to Hiccup and Rapunzel, along with the musician who performed for them during the boat ride. The green-eyed brunettes nodded simultaneously before making their way to the cobblestone street, where Toothless was waiting for them.

"Hey, bud, we're back!" Hiccup announced, and the dragon rushed to give his friend copious licking. "C'mon, Toothless, I wasn't gone that long."

Rapunzel giggled as she thought the Night Fury's affection toward Hiccup was so cute, and it was quite obvious that Toothless missed him a lot.

"Okay, that's enough, bud, we both know your drool doesn't wash out." Hiccup reminded, as he flicked off as much of the dragon spit as he could.

To Hiccup's relief, Rapunzel had already made sure to stay back as far as possible so she wouldn't get any of Toothless' saliva on her pink dress.

"Sorry you had to see that, Rapunzel, but Toothless never likes being away from me, even if it's only for about forty minutes." Hiccup explained.

"No need to apologize, Hiccup, but I don't think my parents would be too happy about Toothless' drool not washing off my clothes." Rapunzel responded.

"Well, in that case, Rapunzel, it's a good thing you stayed back," Hiccup said, as he scratched Toothless' head. "So, where should we go now?" He asked.

"To be honest with you, Hiccup, I'd like to go home. We've done a lot today, and I can't think of another activity we can do next." Rapunzel answered.

"Yeah, I can't think of one either," Hiccup fibbed, even though he did have an activity in mind, but Hiccup wanted to do it with just Toothless.

Rapunzel and Hiccup started to walk back to the castle by each other's side, and it didn't take long for them to have another conversation.

"Hey, Rapunzel, I hope you didn't mind it when I put my arm around your shoulder during the boat ride." Hiccup said, avoiding eye contact.

"I didn't mind it at all, Hiccup, but I really hope you didn't have a problem with me resting my head on your shoulder." Rapunzel replied.

"Don't worry, Rapunzel, I know that you just wanted to be as comfortable as possible, since it was a long boat ride." Hiccup responded.

The princess heaved a quiet sigh of relief from knowing that her and Hiccup didn't dislike the expressions of affection they did on the boat.

"So, Hiccup, would you mind if I rested my head on your shoulder for every gondola ride that we'll have in the future?" Rapunzel asked.

"Just as long as you don't mind it if I put my arm around your shoulder too, which I swear to do only as your friend." Hiccup promised.

"Deal," Rapunzel said, as she walked ahead to come in front of Hiccup, and brought one of her hands out. "Let's shake on it." She added.

Hiccup grinned to Rapunzel as they shook hands, but Hiccup made sure that his grip wasn't too firm so Rapunzel's hand wouldn't get hurt. After being done with their handshake, Rapunzel returned to Hiccup's left side, since Toothless was already beside him on his right side. They kept quiet for the remainder of the walk through the kingdom, since neither could really come up with anything new to talk about. In spite of that, Hiccup would often be greeted by a group of citizens either smiling or giving him a short round of applause, or doing both. It wasn't so hard for Hiccup to figure out the reason he's getting all of this attention was because of his display of Inferno earlier today.

"Looks like people really loved the show of my Dragon Blade, but it's too bad they'll have to wait a month for another show." Hiccup said.

"You could make an announcement that you're going to do more shows, but maybe it should be a surprise instead." Rapunzel suggested.

'If I make an announcement, they'll be waiting for a show, but I if don't, then they'll be waiting and asking for a show.' Hiccup thought.

"No, Rapunzel, I'll make an announcement, but I'll wait until tomorrow afternoon, so that way, everybody will know." Hiccup declared.

"Great! Do you want my parents to get everyone's attention for your announcement, or do you just want my help?" Rapunzel asked.

"I'd like help from you alone, and even if we tell a small group of people, I'm sure they'll be able to spread the world." Hiccup answered.

"Okay, Hiccup, that sounds good to me." Rapunzel replied, before they went up a staircase that led them to the front doors of her home.

Neither Rapunzel nor Hiccup had to open the doors all on their own, since there was a guard already posted on each side of the entrance.

"Welcome home, Your Highness." The guards said, greeting the princess in unison, then both of them turned to look in Hiccup's direction.

"Welcome back, Mr. Haddock." The guards added, saying this at the exact same time, and Hiccup smiled from their kind recognition of him.

"Uh, thanks, guys." Hiccup responded, expressing his gratitude for them acknowledging his presence and opening the doors for him too.

The guards waited until Rapunzel and Pascal went inside the castle, along with Hiccup and Toothless before closing the front doors shut.

"I can't wait to tell my parents about all the things we did today!" Rapunzel exclaimed, and it seemed like her parents had read her mind.

As soon as King Frederic and Queen Arianna were in sight, their daughter ran to embrace them while Hiccup and Toothless looked on.


	16. Flight at Sunset

"Hiccup and I had such a great time outside!" Rapunzel said, after she pulled away from the hug with her parents. "We did so much together!"

"Darling, we'd be more than delighted if you told us all about your day at dinnertime, now please go and wash up." Queen Arianna replied.

Rapunzel gave a nod before heading to her room upstairs, and she was out of sight, the King and Queen brought their attention to Hiccup.

"Well, I don't think that I'll need to wear this flight suit for dinner, so I should get changed myself." Hiccup said, before he started walking.

Hiccup was several steps away from walking past Rapunzel's parents when King Thomas held up a hand to stop Hiccup from going further.

"Before you go, Mr. Haddock, we'd like to express our gratitude to you for spending time with our daughter today." King Frederic declared.

"It's nice of you to say that, Your Majesty," Hiccup replied, before giving a sheepish smile. "Rapunzel is really fun to be around." He added.

"Our kingdom doesn't usually have visitors that she can spend time with, so I hope you won't mind spending a lot more time with her." King Frederic said.

"I don't mind at all, Your Majesty, and besides," Hiccup responded before turning to face his dragon. "Toothless enjoys her company too." He added.

"We're glad to hear that, Mr. Haddock, so we'll let you get changed now." Queen Arianna said, before she and her husband stepped aside.

Before they had begun to walk, Toothless and Hiccup watched as the Queen called for a servant to bring them to their room so they didn't get lost. Hiccup believed that was absolutely necessary, since this place wasn't like his house back on Berk, where he could just go upstairs to his room; this was a castle, a building which had hundreds of rooms, most of which Hiccup wanted to explore, but only if he had someone to help show him around.

The Viking and his dragon followed the servant all the way to their room, and Hiccup made sure to thank the servant before he went inside. Obviously, the first thing that Hiccup did was get out of his flight suit, so now, he was wearing a simple green tunic, brown pants, and a fur boot. When he heard Toothless make a soft purring sound, Hiccup gave a small smile and he quietly brought a hand to rest on his best friend's head.

"Don't worry, bud, it won't be that long," Hiccup assured, as he looked at Toothless. "After we've had dinner, we'll go outside and fly." He added.

Although the Night Fury nodded his head, he didn't change his expression, but Hiccup was positive that Toothless would stay patient a little longer. When the two of them came out of the room, they weren't surprised to see the same servant waiting to take them down to the dining room table. Once again, Hiccup and Toothless walked behind the servant and stayed close as they went downstairs, while remaining quiet for the whole time. By the time that they arrived at the table, Rapunzel's parents were already seated, and their servant held out a chair so that Hiccup could sit down too.

"So that's what you wear under that flight suit of yours, Mr. Haddock." King Frederic said, as him and his wife took notice of Hiccup's casual outfit.

"Yes, Your Majesty, and I'm sorry it's not fancy or anything, Vikings don't really have a lot of options when it comes to clothing." Hiccup explained.

"There's no need to apologize, Mr. Haddock, and your father told us the same thing when he visited Corona last month." Queen Arianna revealed.

"Yes, his so-called 'fishing trip'," Hiccup replied, and the royals both gave a look of confusion. "That's what my dad told me the trip was." He added.

The expressions on the King and Queen's faces changed after hearing that, and Hiccup looked around to see that Rapunzel wasn't at the table yet.

"So, where's Rapunzel?" Hiccup asked, as he was genuinely concerned about the girl's whereabouts. "I thought she would've been here by now."

"Our daughter will be joining us soon, Mr. Haddock," King Frederic answered, and only a few seconds passed before Rapunzel finally showed up.

"Here she is now." The Queen declared, as her daughter took a seat right next to Hiccup, who couldn't help but take a look at the princess' crown.

"Hey, Rapunzel, could I ask you something?" Hiccup asked, and he waited until Rapunzel turned to face him, and she gave her answer with a nod.

"Do you always have to wear your crown every time you have a meal?" Hiccup inquired, as he hoped Rapunzel didn't think it was a dumb question.

"Yes, Hiccup, my parents said it's important to wear it during formal occasions, and it symbolizes everything a princess should be." Rapunzel responded.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked, and he watched as Rapunzel took off her crown and brought it closer so that Hiccup could see the jewels better.

"The crown's white jewels stand for a strong and adventurous spirit; green represents gentleness and kindness; red stands for courage; and the round golden crown itself stands for leadership." Rapunzel explained, before putting the crown back on her head.

"Wow, you have a lot of good traits," Hiccup complimented, then gave a smile to Rapunzel, whose face soon turned pink as she turned away from him.

What they didn't realize was that the King and Queen saw this moment from start to finish, but they didn't really think it was a matter of discussion. Rapunzel's parents decided to focus on their upcoming meal, which would be filet of sole stuffed with lobster, so they hoped Hiccup didn't mind seafood.

"Mr. Haddock," King Frederic said, and Hiccup turned his head to face the man. "We've already arranged for a servant to bring your dragon his meal."

"Oh, thanks, Your Majesty." Hiccup replied, as he felt quite relieved to know that the King and Queen didn't forget about giving Toothless food as well.

All of a sudden, Hiccup believed that Rapunzel and her parents deserved to have knowledge of his upcoming flight so that they wouldn't be worried. Rapunzel might show up at his room again tonight, so the last thing Hiccup wanted was for her to assume he left her kingdom without saying goodbye.

"Excuse me, Rapunzel?" Hiccup said, and just as Rapunzel looked at him, Hiccup turned to face her parents. "There's something I have to tell all of you."

"If it's about the meal, Mr. Haddock, it's filet of sole stuffed with lobster, but if you want something different, it's okay with us." Queen Arianna replied.

"No, it's not the meal, Your Majesty, I just wanted to tell you all in advance that Toothless and I will be going for a flight before sundown." Hiccup informed.

The King and Queen, along with their daughter looked at each other for a moment before turning back to face Hiccup, who still waited for a response.

"Okay, Mr. Haddock, should we leave the castle's front door unlocked or are you going to take off from your room's balcony?" King Frederic inquired.

Hiccup's eyes widened a little, as he didn't expect to be given options for which location him and Toothless would leave for their flight later this evening. He also didn't know that his room even had a balcony, but that's probably because he hadn't been given a tour, but Hiccup didn't think it was necessary.

"I think we'll use the balcony, Your Majesty, so that way, we won't have to take two long trips to the front door and back to our room." Hiccup replied.

"Good thinking, Mr. Haddock," King Frederic answered, before something came to his mind. "Don't worry, the balcony's big enough for your dragon."

"That's good to know, Your Majesty." Hiccup said, and suddenly, a small group of servants came out of the kitchen while holding a covered silver tray.

Hiccup could see another two servants not far behind, but instead of a silver tray, they were carrying a large basket meant specifically for Toothless. The dragon licked his lips as soon as the servants dropped the basket and opened it up for him, and Toothless didn't hesitate to devour the feast. Rapunzel and Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle for a bit as they watched this happen, but they eventually brought their attention to their own meal.

By the time that a servant had placed a silver tray in front of them, the Viking and the princess had a fork and knife in each of their hands. Even though there was three knives and four forks, they didn't really care about which one to choose, all that mattered was using them. Unlike Toothless, who had been practically scarfing down his fish, Hiccup wasn't in a rush as he took his time to enjoy each bite of his dinner.

The reason why Hiccup chose to do this was because he wanted to save as much energy and sunset was still a couple of hours away from now. Hiccup could understand why Toothless was so anxious to go flying, the dragon hadn't been up in the sky since they arrived at Corona yesterday. The boy would make sure to take the dragon for a flight at least once or twice each day, so that Toothless wasn't confined to the ground for long.

As he continued to eat his meal, Hiccup eventually started to wonder if Rapunzel wanted to join them, and if her parents would be okay if she did. Despite the fact it would mean they couldn't go fast so that Rapunzel didn't fall off, Hiccup believed there wasn't a problem in bringing her along. If there was anything Hiccup took from his time with Rapunzel today, it's that Toothless didn't mind her presence and enjoyed having her around.

Hiccup took a quick glance at Rapunzel and noticed that when her mouth wasn't full, she was talking to her parents about all the things they did together. It made Hiccup feel good to see the princess so happy as she spoke, but the fact it was all because of him had managed to make Hiccup feel much better. Eventually, Hiccup realized that he'd never find out what Rapunzel's answer would be if he kept thinking about it, so Hiccup decided to wait until the two of them were both done with their meal before asking her.

"Rapunzel?" Hiccup said, and then he quickly wiped his face clean with his napkin first. "How would you like to join me and Toothless for our flight?"

When the princess didn't respond right away, Hiccup assumed that Rapunzel was just taking some time to think about his offer before speaking to him.

"I'd love to, Hiccup, but wouldn't Toothless mind? He didn't like being away from you when we took that boat ride earlier today." Rapunzel reminded.

"We had a good reason for that, the boat wasn't strong enough to hold Toothless too, but with him, there's room for two people." Hiccup replied.

Instead of answering back, Rapunzel turned to face her parents, and Hiccup did the same thing, since he thought they deserved a say in the matter.

"Mom, Dad, would it be okay with both of you if I joined them tonight?" Rapunzel asked, as she thought it was important to get their permission first.

"Before we decide, there's a few things we'd like to know, such as how long will this flight last, and how fast his dragon will go." The Queen answered.

Rapunzel's parents turned to face Hiccup, as they were obviously expecting him to give an answer, and so the Viking cleared his throat before speaking.

"The flight will only last until sundown, Your Majesty, and Toothless won't be going fast, he'll just do a gentle glide for the whole time." Hiccup explained.

Before the King and Queen could answer, a group of servants had returned to take all of their plates, as well as the basket Toothless had left bone dry. Everyone remained quiet as each of the servants walked back inside the kitchen, and once they were gone, Hiccup went ahead to be the first to speak.

"I'm here in your kingdom to spread peace with dragons, Your Majesty, so what better way to improve upon that than by having each of your citizens go for a flight on a dragon?" Hiccup recommended.

The Corona royals had to admit Hiccup did have a point; their citizens would be more than likely to have a flight with Toothless if they knew that their princess had gone though with one herself first. Their kingdom had a total of three thousand citizens, and Hiccup would be staying here for a whole year, so that meant the Viking had plenty of time to convince each and every one to allow dragons into their community.

From what their daughter recently told them, Hiccup had been doing a good job so far, as he already managed to get four young girls to meet Toothless personally and none of them felt the least bit scared after meeting the dragon. In the end, Rapunzel's parents didn't believe that there was any reason to prevent Hiccup from doing this, and they felt no need to keep Rapunzel from joining Toothless and Hiccup for their flight later this evening.

"Alright, Mr. Haddock, our daughter can accompany you and your dragon, but only if she's wearing a coat, so she doesn't catch a cold." King Frederic said.

Only a few seconds passed until Rapunzel and Hiccup smiled in unison, and the girl quickly went over to the other side of the table and hugged her parents.

"Thanks, Mom! Thanks, Dad! I love you both so much!" Rapunzel exclaimed, before giving the King and Queen each a kiss on the cheek after hugging them.

"Remember, darling, we'll already be asleep during your flight, so please do tell us about it during breakfast tomorrow morning." Queen Arianna requested.

"You don't need to worry, I'll tell you everything, I promise!" Rapunzel shouted, as she headed for the stairs, but not before taking a quick glance at Hiccup.

"Well, I should go up to my room, since I have to put on my flight suit." Hiccup mentioned, before he got up from his chair and bowed to Rapunzel's parents.

Hiccup was about to turn around when he remembered that him and Toothless wouldn't get to their room unless they had a servant take them there personally. It seemed like the Queen read Hiccup's mind as he saw the woman call for a servant once again, and Hiccup didn't have to wait long for somebody to show up. Toothless and Hiccup followed the servant up the stairs and through a couple of hallways before arriving at their room, and the servant gave a bow before leaving. After closing the main door to his bedroom, Hiccup thought this was a good time to check out the balcony, since him and Toothless would be using it as their spot to take off and land on for tonight.

It didn't take Hiccup that long to find the balcony's entrance, which was a pair of doors, unlike the entrances to his room and the bathroom, which were only one door. When he came out onto the balcony, Hiccup instantly noticed that the sun had come down a bit more, which meant the sunset would be happening very soon. Since Hiccup didn't know where Rapunzel's room was in the castle or if it came with a balcony like his room, Hiccup figured that she'll come over and knock on his door after she was dressed and ready for the flight. It seemed like the King was right about the balcony being big enough for Toothless, in fact, the balcony was so big that it could a fit whole family of Night Furies.

As for his flight suit, Hiccup didn't think he had to put it on right now, since he could do that before they took off, so Hiccup thought of how he could pass the time. Eventually, Hiccup decided to take a nap, most likely because it could help him to gain a little more energy, and he didn't see why Toothless couldn't do the same. Hiccup walked back into their room, but he held off on closing the doors to the balcony until Toothless was with him, and Hiccup made sure to stand aside so that the dragon could get inside the room too.

"Hey, bud, it won't be sunset for a few more hours," Hiccup said, as he patted Toothless on the head. "It wouldn't hurt if we took a little nap till then." He added.

Even though Toothless was still quite anxious to fly with Hiccup here and now, he did feel a little sleepy, so the dragon laid down on the carpeted floor before closing his eyes. Hiccup felt glad and surprised that Toothless didn't try to argue with him, and he didn't waste any time in sitting down on the floor with his back against the dragon's chest and closing his eyes too.

Hiccup slowly got on his knees while shaking his head in disbelief that Toothless just knocked him to the ground, and he quickly brought his head up to the Night Fury. To the Viking's surprise, Toothless wasn't looking at him, and the dragon had his attention on somebody else, and Hiccup's eyes widened when he saw who it was.

"Rapunzel?" Hiccup whispered, and although he was at a great distance away from her, Hiccup was able to notice that the princess looked rather terrified of Toothless.

Hiccup stood up on his feet and moved closer so that he could look at Toothless' face, and that's when he finally understood why Rapunzel's face was full of terror. The dragon's pupils weren't fully dilated like usual, but they were now impossibly thin slits, and he was also starting to slowly and directly advance on Rapunzel.

"No, Toothless! Stop!" Hiccup commanded, but the Night Fury paddled like a mindless killer. A stranger even, with his teeth bared, and growling deeply in his throat.

Hiccup had never seen Toothless like this before, not even around the Red Death, and he didn't understand, but Hiccup still made an effort to get through to him.

"Knock it off! Stop! Snap out of it!" Hiccup shouted desperately at his friend, but it wasn't working, Toothless couldn't even hear him, and still advanced on Rapunzel.

The more Rapunzel backed away, the more Toothless approached, opening his jaws wider and wider. There was a familiar whistling squeal, that of a Night Fury charging up its plasma. Rapunzel quickly looked over her shoulder, hoping there was a way out of this nightmare, but to her and Hiccup's despair, she was at a dead end, with nowhere to run or hide, trapped between Toothless and ragged walls of blue ice. Hiccup was realizing now what was happening, and he had tried all that he possibly could to free Toothless from this mire, but he couldn't just stand by and watch something happen to Rapunzel that she wasn't prepared for and didn't deserve either.

Rapunzel had already been taken away from her parents for eighteen years, so the last thing the King and Queen needed was to lose their daughter all over again, especially not in a permanent manner when they were still making up for lost time. The princess closed her eyes and held her breath as she waited for whatever was coming from Toothless' mouth, but she didn't expect to be shoved out of the way by Hiccup, who was going to look into his best friend's eyes right until the very end. Everything fell completely silent as a loud boom came when Toothless fired and obeyed the one universal constant of his world: Night Furies never, ever missed.

Hiccup suddenly propelled off from Toothless' back, and he was now startled and panting, while he also felt sweat clinging to his forehead at the same time. Hiccup took a few deep breaths to calm himself down as he wiped the sweat off from his forehead, and then he got back up on his feet before turning around. Hiccup wondered of what could possibly happen that would lead to Toothless behaving the way he did in the Viking's bad dream, especially toward Rapunzel.

Ever since they met yesterday, Rapunzel had never said or done anything wrong to the Night Fury whatsoever, which is why Hiccup's dream was quite strange. Hiccup started to believe that it may have been more than just a dream, and it was probably an unpleasant event that would happen very soon in the future. Eventually, Hiccup shook off the thought from his mind, as he knew that Toothless would never do anything to hurt him or anybody else that he cared about. All of a sudden, Hiccup yelped in surprise as he heard a knock come from the bedroom's main door, and this had even caused Toothless to wake up from his nap.

"Hey, Hiccup, it's me!" Rapunzel exclaimed cheerfully as she stood on the other side of the door. "I'm all ready for our flight, so please let me in!" She added.

Hiccup walked over to the door and opened it up for Rapunzel, but when he got a good look at her, he could've easily mistaken Rapunzel for a Viking who lived in his village. The princess was now wearing a pale purple dress, simple with long sleeves and it fell down just after her knees. Both of Rapunzel's legs were covered with thin cloth to keep them warm from the cold, and a pair of small boots adorned her feet. A leather corset was laced around her front, extenuating her small waist and hips. Finally, a small fur piece was put around her slim shoulders, and the white of it paled in comparison to her fair skin.

"So, Hiccup, what do you think?" Rapunzel inquired as she gave a cute twirl before facing the Viking. "Is it too much, because I can get changed again."

"No, Rapunzel, you look perfect." Hiccup answered, then his cheeks suddenly turned red, and Rapunzel giggle for a moment when she saw this happen.

"Thanks, Hiccup, that's very sweet." Rapunzel said as she felt relieved that she didn't have to go change. "Are you going to let me in now?" She asked.

"Oh, right, yes, of course." Hiccup replied as he quickly stood aside to let Rapunzel come in his room, and he closed the door once the girl was inside.

Hiccup didn't need to tell Toothless to stand up, since the dragon was already on all fours, and him, along with Rapunzel followed Hiccup as he led the way to the balcony. When the three of them came out further onto the balcony, Rapunzel and Hiccup gasped in awe of the beautiful view that came before their very eyes. Both the sky and the clouds were now colored pink from the sunset, which had always been a perk of living in Berk if you stayed out longer than usual.

The sunset was something that Hiccup enjoyed with Astrid frequently, whether they were on their dragons in the sky, or if it was just the two of them. Unlike all those flights he's had with Astrid in the past, this flight with Rapunzel would be strictly platonic, since Hiccup knew they both had a significant other. Hiccup finally climbed onto Toothless and secured himself into the saddle, then he waited until Rapunzel was at the dragon's side before holding out a hand. Rapunzel took Hiccup's outstretched hand and carefully climbed over the pedal, lines, and harness before settling behind Hiccup with her arms around his waist.

"Are you ready?" Hiccup asked as he had his head turned slightly to face Rapunzel, who gave her answer with a quick nod of her head and a smile on her face.

Rapunzel felt like her heart shot up into her mouth as Toothless took off into the air, and Pascal held on to the girl's outfit for dear life as this happened. It wasn't until Toothless had leveled out and sailed as gently as a leaf on water when Rapunzel took a deep breath before taking in the sight around her. All she could see for miles on end were clouds, large pillars and towers of them ablaze in not just hues of pink, but in also a mixture of orange and purple.

Rapunzel brought her head up to notice that a ceiling of thick clouds hovered above them, and the temptation to touch these clouds was hardly deniable. Taking her right hand off Hiccup's waist, she raised it carefully to touch the cloud, which didn't feel like soft like a rabbit's fur or delicate like a bird's feathers. Rapunzel gasped and flinched a little as she felt cool droplets of water make contact with her fingers, but eventually, she was grinning from this new experience.

Every time that Rapunzel gazed at the clouds, she always wondered if they felt warm and soft and fluffy like a sheep's wool, but clearly, she had been wrong. The clouds were not at all what Rapunzel had expected, but it was still amazing, and she eventually raised her other hand to feel the cloud's cold moisture. Rapunzel was now feeling a lot more confident that she wouldn't slide off, but she still brought her arms around Hiccup's waist when Toothless did a gentle loop.

As the Night Fury broke through the top layer of clouds, Rapunzel gasped once again as she noticed they were now flying under a starry, midnight blue sky. Rapunzel was no stranger to staring at the night sky with her birthday, but this time, it was so much different, as the stars were closer than ever before. Eventually, the princess started to imagine what it would be like to fly with Hiccup and Toothless on the night of her birthday, instead of just taking a boat. She wouldn't get to only see the lanterns up close, Rapunzel would have the chance of practically feeling the heat off of them as they all floated around her. Rapunzel didn't have to ask Hiccup if him and Toothless could do this for her, because they've already made an agreement to do it when her birthday came.

"Well, Hiccup, now I know why it's great to go flying at nighttime," Rapunzel said, and she started to think something was wrong when Hiccup didn't answer back.

"Hiccup, is everything okay?" Rapunzel asked concernedly, as she hoped Hiccup wasn't mad at her for some reason and was enjoying the flight as much as she was.

What Rapunzel didn't know was that Hiccup's mind had been recently occupied by the dream he had not so long ago, and he would've kept thinking about it if Rapunzel hadn't said his name.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Rapunzel, I was just thinking about. . ." Hiccup trailed off as he tried to come up with a good excuse for his silence that didn't include his dream.

Hiccup was worried that if he told Rapunzel about his dream, then she wouldn't feel safe around Toothless, and that's the last thing Hiccup wanted to happen. How the princess felt about Toothless really mattered to the citizens of her kingdom, because if she didn't have a positive view toward the dragon, then Hiccup's hard work would've been all for naught.

"Remember when I told you earlier that me and Toothless have been discovering and mapping unexplored lands for the past five years?" Hiccup inquired.

"Yes, Hiccup, I believe you told me that before you gave a wonderful show of your fire sword to the villagers, so why do you ask?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

"If your parents are okay with it, maybe you and Pascal could join me and Toothless on a trip out of Corona in a few months from now." Hiccup suggested.

"I'd love to do that, Hiccup," Rapunzel replied enthusiastically. "Why can't the trip happen much sooner, like why not in a few weeks instead?" She asked.

"It's going to be summer in a few months, Rapunzel, and I've never really told this to anyone before, but it's actually my favorite season." Hiccup revealed.

"How come it's your favorite?" Rapunzel inquired, as she was now intrigued from what Hiccup told her, which is why she wanted him to tell her much more.

"The air's warmer, me and Toothless can fly higher and further, so we take full advantage of it, since it's the shortest season for Berk." Hiccup explained.

"Well, Hiccup, it seems like we have another thing in common, summer's my favorite season too, because that's when my birthday comes." Rapunzel replied.

"Really, so when's your birthday?" Hiccup inquired, as he wondered if he should give Rapunzel another gift for her birthday besides a flight on Toothless.

"June 24th, and I've learned that's about three days after the summer solstice, which is also known as the very first day of summer." Rapunzel informed.

"That's interesting, Rapunzel, but I think that the trip should happen a few weeks earlier, so it doesn't get in the way of your birthday." Hiccup suggested.

"Good thinking, Hiccup, and if I'm not in Corona, it could help my parents to plan a celebration, so that everything is a big surprise." Rapunzel responded.

Hiccup was now feeling quite proud of himself for suggesting the trip, and he also believed that it could be like an early birthday present for Rapunzel too. Suddenly, Hiccup remembered that he told Rapunzel's parents that this flight would only go on until sundown, but the sun had come down a long time ago. At first, Hiccup thought the reason was that he wanted to impress Rapunzel, but she already was by now, so there had to be a better reason than that.

It couldn't have been to make sure that Rapunzel could handle flying with him and Toothless, even though this was the very first time it was happening. Hiccup decided that he would figure it out another time, but for now, it was time to bring Rapunzel back home, since Hiccup felt they stayed out long enough. As much as he wanted to stay up here a little bit longer, Hiccup knew that Rapunzel had to go to bed, not to mention him and Toothless needed sleep too.

"Hey, Rapunzel," Hiccup said, and he waited at least a few seconds before continuing to speak to the princess. "I think it's time for this flight to be over."

"Why, Hiccup, aren't you enjoying it?" Rapunzel asked, as she started to assume she said or done something that caused Hiccup to make this decision.

"Of course I am, Rapunzel, and I'm glad you're enjoying it too, but I said the flight would last until sundown, and it's way past that now." Hiccup reminded.

"I know, Hiccup, but can't we stay up here for a few more minutes? My parents are probably asleep by now, so they won't ever find out." Rapunzel replied.

Hiccup couldn't really see the harm in having the flight last a little bit longer, and it didn't seem like Toothless would disapprove of that, since he loved to fly. If the King and Queen trusted their daughter enough to let her join Hiccup for a flight, then it was unlikely that they'd check to see if she was asleep in bed. Still, Hiccup thought it wouldn't be good to lie to Rapunzel's parents, because the last thing that he wanted to happen was for them to lose their trust in him.

"Alright, Rapunzel, five more minutes and then we go back, but when we see your parents for breakfast tomorrow morning, we tell them the truth." Hiccup declared.

Rapunzel was about to argue with Hiccup when she remembered that she's never lied to her parents or kept a secret from them before, so she didn't want to start doing either of those things. Ever since the day that Rapunzel reunited with them, her parents have always been loving, supportive, and kind toward her, so she didn't believe that they would actually be mad over the flight lasting longer than expected.

"Okay, Hiccup, I've always been honest with my parents, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be, and I'm sure that they'll understand completely." Rapunzel responded.

"That's the spirit!" Hiccup exclaimed, as he felt very confident now that neither him nor Rapunzel would be facing any conflict with Rapunzel's parents about their flight.

Since he didn't want the last few minutes to be filled with awkward silence, Hiccup tried to think of something new they could talk about until it was time to go back.

"So, Rapunzel, do you think the villagers will enjoy this too?" Hiccup asked, and even though he knew she'd have a positive answer, he still wanted to hear it from her.

"Absolutely, Hiccup, but it has to be during the daytime, since the villagers don't really stay up late, unless it's the night of my birthday, of course." Rapunzel answered.

"Who knows, Rapunzel? Maybe the villagers will want a flight at nighttime, and I don't think Toothless would mind so much, since he'd have a chance to fly." Hiccup said.

"You wouldn't mind that, would you, bud?" Hiccup asked, as he leaned a little closer to Toothless, who shook his head while snorting an excited 'yes!' to Hiccup's question.

"Are you sure, Hiccup? I mean, you're not worried about not getting enough sleep?" Rapunzel inquired, as she still wasn't convinced that Hiccup could handle the task.

"Toothless and I have stayed up late many times before, Rapunzel, and we've always gone for a flight when we feel like it, so it won't be hard for us." Hiccup persuaded.

"Alright, Hiccup, since you're absolutely sure about doing that, we'll talk about it with my parents tomorrow morning when we all have breakfast." Rapunzel responded.

"Sounds great to me!" Hiccup said happily, and since he felt like five minutes have passed already, he thought it was time to fly back to the castle and get some sleep.

Hiccup noticed they were still flying above the clouds, so he gently patted Toothless on the head, and the dragon didn't even have to be told of what his best friend wanted. Toothless turned around to have them go in the other direction and head toward Rapunzel's kingdom, and Hiccup was sure Rapunzel would love the sight of it from up here. Hiccup wanted it to be a great big surprise for Rapunzel, so he decided not to spoil it for her and say anything about it until they had flown over the clouds below them. All of a sudden, Hiccup's thoughts were interrupted when he felt Rapunzel's arms tighten a little more around his waist as she rested her head on top of his shoulder pad.

"Thank you for this, Hiccup, it's been really wonderful," Rapunzel whispered, but she was loud enough for Hiccup to hear her. "Could we do this more often?" She asked.

"When you say 'this', you mean just you, me and Toothless having a flight at nighttime?" Hiccup inquired, and Rapunzel soon brought her head off from his shoulder pad.

"Yes, and I don't mean every single night, Hiccup, just once or maybe twice each week, but I understand if you think that I'm asking for too much." Rapunzel replied.

Even though Hiccup's had many people fly with him and Toothless, from his father to even Snotlout, the person who always joined them at a flight after dark was Astrid. Hiccup couldn't help but wonder if he would be betraying Astrid by giving Rapunzel a flight frequently, even though he had no romantic interest in the princess whatsoever. It would likely be way more of a betrayal to Astrid if Hiccup lied to her about the flights, especially if they were going to be planning a wedding once he returned to Berk.

"No, Rapunzel, you're not asking for too much; me and Toothless wouldn't mind having you with us for more flights, but only if it's okay with your parents." Hiccup said.

"I guess that means we have another thing to talk about with them at breakfast tomorrow, right?" Rapunzel asked, and Hiccup simply gave his answer with a quick nod.

All of a sudden, Hiccup noticed they were almost over the clouds, and he obviously knew what that meant, so he felt now was a good time to tell something to Rapunzel.

"Hey, Rapunzel, you're going to love this." Hiccup said teasingly, and Rapunzel became a little more confused, since she already told him how she felt about the flight.

"Hiccup, what are you. . ." Rapunzel trailed off as her eyes widened and her mouth went agape as she noticed a sight that was familiar, yet different at the same time.

It was none other than Corona, and despite the fact there weren't any lights on in the buildings including the castle, the kingdom still looked beautiful from so high up. Rapunzel thought the view would be even better on her birthday, with all the lanterns floating around them, and she would get to experience that in just a few months. Since she hadn't said a single word the whole time, Hiccup wasn't able to tell if Rapunzel liked the view or not, so he thought that he should ask her in order to find out.

"Do you like it, Rapunzel? I couldn't help but notice you've been quiet for a while, so I just wanted to know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Hiccup requested.

"Hiccup." Rapunzel said, and she waited until Hiccup had his head turned to face her before speaking again, but what she did next took him completely by surprise.

Rapunzel had brought a hand up from his waist to cup his cheek, and it was hard for Hiccup not to blush from the contact, but he kept himself silent to let her talk.

"I don't just like it, I love it." Rapunzel whispered, and right when all those words had left her mouth, the princess stopped to realize just how close their faces were.

Even though Rapunzel was now blushing just like Hiccup clearly was, she didn't make any sort of effort to turn away from him, and Hiccup only swallowed roughly. The two of them were completely silent as their eyes soon fluttered shut and their faces inched closer in a thick air that almost begged for them to close the distance. It wasn't so hard to see why they couldn't let a romantic moment happen right then and there, with the atmosphere so inviting, and nobody around to interrupt either.

Hiccup didn't bother to open up his eyes as he felt Rapunzel taking her other hand off from his waist and sliding it slowly into his hair, since he didn't mind the feeling. At this moment, the only thing they could hear was the sound of their own breathing, which only became much louder when they pressed their foreheads together. What neither of them could notice was that Toothless was flying them closer to Rapunzel's castle, but the dragon didn't want to make a sound and ruin their moment.

Rapunzel and Hiccup had been expecting the other to take action and close the distance between them, but before either of them could do that, they felt a loud thump. The noise of this happening caused both the Viking and the princess to open up their eyes, pull away from each other and turn their heads to see where they are now. They had landed and were back on one of the castle's many balconies, which meant their flight was over, and the two young adults felt a little sad as they realized this. Hiccup quickly dismounted from his dragon, and he lent out a hand for Rapunzel so that she'd get off from Toothless safely, since he thought it was the right thing to help her.

"Thanks, Hiccup," Rapunzel said kindly, but once she was facing him again, she instantly noticed that Hiccup had been looking away, but he was still blushing though.

"No problem, so uhhh. . .do you need help getting back to your room, or can you find it on your own?" Hiccup asked, then he wondered why he even said all of that.

Rapunzel didn't have any guards with her when she showed up at his door earlier today, so it was possible that the princess could be able to find her room just fine.

If all of the hallways outside Hiccup's room were lit up with candles, then Rapunzel probably wasn't too scared to go through them alone and wouldn't need his help.

"Oh, thanks for the offer, Hiccup, but I think you've done enough already with giving me a ride on Toothless tonight, and you should get some rest." Rapunzel replied.

As much as Hiccup wanted to insist on taking Rapunzel back to her room, he was quite tired, and Toothless wasn't likely to let himself fall asleep until the boy did first.

"Yeah, Rapunzel, you're right," Hiccup agreed, but not before nodding his head briefly and putting a small smile on his face. "I guess this means goodnight." He added.

Rapunzel nodded and smiled back at Hiccup, who was about to turn away and open up the doors to his room when he noticed Rapunzel taking small steps toward him. She was only intending to give Hiccup a hug, but Hiccup felt they had shared more than enough contact during their flight this evening, so he quickly stuck out a hand. Hiccup couldn't help but feel a pang of regret as he noticed Rapunzel's smile slowly be replaced with a frown, since a part of him wanted to feel her arms around him. Another part of Hiccup expected Rapunzel to reject his handshake and leave immediately, but instead, she kept a straight face as she took his hand and shook it firmly.

"Goodnight, Hiccup." Rapunzel responded, before quickly taking her hand out from his own, and then she stood aside to let Hiccup open the doors and lead them inside.

Toothless seemed to be aware that there was some tension between his best friend and the princess because neither of them really had a smile on their face right now. The dragon couldn't understand this, since Hiccup and Rapunzel were clearing enjoying themselves while they were both on his back and up in the sky not so long ago. Nevertheless, Toothless remained by Hiccup's side as the Viking closed the balcony doors once they were all inside and walked with Rapunzel to his bedroom's main door.

"See you tomorrow morning." Rapunzel said, as she opened up the door, but before she went through it, Rapunzel closed her eyes and stood absolutely still for a moment.

Hiccup instantly took this as a sign that Rapunzel was upset that he didn't allow her to give him a hug, and now he felt like he should say something to make up for that. Just as Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, Rapunzel had given the Viking a warm kiss on the cheek and left his room, and she made sure to shut the door as she did so. For what felt like long hours, but was really just several minutes, Hiccup stood right where he was in a daze as his face grew even hotter from what just happened earlier.

Hiccup couldn't resist from playing the moment over and over again in his head while he brought a hand up to the same spot on his cheek where Rapunzel had kissed him. As much as Hiccup wanted to remind himself that the kiss was platonic, a part of him was starting to wonder if Rapunzel had supposedly done the kiss in a romantic sense. Before he could even have the chance to think more about it, Hiccup felt Toothless' breath ruffle his already unkempt hair, which caused the boy to turn and face the dragon.

"I know, bud. It's time for bed." Hiccup announced, and he was about to start taking off parts of his flight suit when he realized that his room didn't have enough light.

When he looked around, it didn't take long for Hiccup to notice that his room had a fireplace, but there was currently no fire because he never had a reason to use it.

"Hey, bud, a little help?" Hiccup asked, as he gestured to the fireplace, and Toothless seemed to read his mind as he blasted a fireball onto the logs, setting them ablaze.

"Thanks, bud." Hiccup said kindly, before he began to take off his flight suit, since there was plenty of light for Hiccup to see each and every part he needed to remove.

By the time Hiccup had gotten himself out of his flight suit, he was wearing just a pair of pants because he didn't want to get too hot when he slept through the night.

"Okay, bud, can you. . ." Hiccup had been hoping for Toothless to help put out the fire, but it seemed like that wouldn't happen since the dragon was already asleep.

The Night Fury must have been quite tired from all that walking through the kingdom to the flight earlier tonight so Hiccup decided it was best not to wake up Toothless. Hiccup knew this meant that he had to put the fire out all on his own, but luckily, it wasn't so hard for him to come up with a good idea as he went into the bathroom. Hiccup quickly searched the bathroom until he found a pitcher, which he used to fill up with water from the sink, then he brought the pitcher over to the lit fireplace. Hiccup made sure to keep himself a good distance away from the fire as he slowly held the pitcher of water tight in one hand and used it to douse the burning wood.

Once the fire was completely put out, Hiccup brought the pitcher back to its original place in the bathroom before going over to his bed and getting under the covers. When Hiccup took a quick glance at Toothless, he was surprised to see that the dragon hadn't woken up, since the Viking wasn't being quiet when he put out the fire. Hiccup closed his eyes and laid his head against the soft pillow, and as he waited for sleep to take over, his mind started thinking about the kiss that Rapunzel gave him earlier. A smile soon appeared on Hiccup's face as he couldn't deny that the kiss felt very nice, and that's why he was hoping to receive a lot more kisses from Rapunzel in the future.

It wasn't until Rapunzel was back inside her own room where she took a deep breath, since she walked in a quick motion through the hallways to return to her bedroom. The first thing that Rapunzel wanted to do was change, considering the outfit that she had on right now was only meant for the recent flight with Hiccup and Toothless. Rapunzel didn't need to worry about her room not having enough light, because there was a warm, lit fire in the fireplace, as well as a few lit candles throughout the room. This must have been done by one of the servants, since Rapunzel didn't remember lighting any candles or starting a fire, so she'd make sure to thank the servant who did all of that for her.

Rapunzel went over to the drawers and searched through them until she found a nice pink nightgown embroidered with flowers and trimmed with ribbon, which she placed on her bed before she finally started to get out of her clothes. Once she had gotten herself out of the corset, dress, and cloth leggings, Rapunzel put all the clothes in a neat pile on top of a nearby chair, while leaving the boots on the floor right next to it. After that was all done, Rapunzel picked up her nightgown from off the bed and put it on, and then one by one, she put out each of the candles in the room with her fingers. Since she had already been taught by a servant to lick her fingers first, grab the wick quickly and let go, Rapunzel successfully managed not to get any of her fingers burned.

The only thing that was left for Rapunzel to do now was put out the fire, but Rapunzel knew that she couldn't be able to do that just by licking both of her hands and patting them on the flames. Rapunzel obviously knew that she had to get a pitcher and fill it with water, and luckily, it didn't take long for her to find the pitcher, which was on a nearby table next to a candle she just put out. Unfortunately, the room was a little too dark for Rapunzel to check and see if there was any water inside the pitcher, so she decided to go ahead with another alternative. If the pitcher was light, then it meant there was little to no water inside of it, but if the pitcher was the least bit heavy in her grasp, then there must be plenty of water.

As soon as Rapunzel carefully picked up the pitcher from off the table, she knew it was the latter in this case because a servant must have filled it in advance for her. Rapunzel went over to the fireplace and slowly began to pour the pitcher's water over the flames, dousing them, and causing her bedroom to become much darker. The princess wasn't too afraid of the dark, and now that the fire was completely put out, Rapunzel placed the pitcher back on the same spot she found it on the table. Rapunzel was about to walk over to her bed, get herself under the covers and go to sleep when she stopped to realize that she didn't feel the slightest bit cold right now.

This felt very unusual, considering there was no source of heat in her room anymore, and she only wore a nightgown, which bared both of her arms and most of her legs. All of a sudden, Rapunzel slowly lifted a hand to touch her lips, and once she did, a strange heat began to arose in her body, and before she knew it, she was blushing. Rapunzel knew that there was only one reason for why this would be happening, and that was kissing Hiccup on the cheek before leaving his bedroom not so long ago. She had only done that to thank Hiccup for the flight he'd given her tonight, but Rapunzel couldn't understand why she'd do that instead of thank him with a few words.

Suddenly, Rapunzel remembered that it wasn't the first time she kissed somebody to thank them, and it was during the time her and Eugene were at the Snuggly Duckling. After one of the ruffians helped them escape the pub after a group of royal guards arrived to find Eugene, Rapunzel gave the ruffian a kiss on the cheek before leaving. However, the princess could recall that she didn't end up blushing after she kissed the ruffian, not even once, so why would that happen from kissing Hiccup tonight? Could it actually be possible that the reason why Rapunzel had felt this way at the moment is because she was starting to develop romantic feelings toward Hiccup?

"What? No way!" Rapunzel thought and shook her head frantically just as she felt her heart dropping in her chest at the second that the idea had crossed her mind.

Rapunzel had a very good reason why she shouldn't be falling in love with Hiccup, and it's because they both already have a committed relationship with someone else. Hiccup had a woman whom he would marry when he returned to his homeland, while she had a man whom she would eventually marry once he returned from visiting the neighboring kingdoms. Rapunzel was most likely thinking irrationally, and after having experienced what she did, there was no way that her body or mind would have been at ease anyway.

"The flight must have given me a cold. . .that's why my body feels so warm. It's got nothing to do with this kiss I gave to Hiccup earlier." Rapunzel thought to herself.

Hiccup's only been in her kingdom for less than a week, so falling in love with him was impossible, but then again, she fell for Eugene after knowing him for two days. Rapunzel started to wonder if it was such a good idea for them to take that trip before her birthday, since it would only lead to them spending a lot more time together. If she told Hiccup that she suddenly changed her mind and didn't want to go through with it, then she knew that he wouldn't accept that unless he was given a good reason.

"I always enjoy summer when it comes, and I've never had the opportunity to see places outside of my kingdom ever since I've returned home." Rapunzel thought.

Unfortunately, Rapunzel wasn't able to come up with an excuse for why her and Hiccup shouldn't go through with the trip, since it was something she really wanted. As much as she enjoyed visiting the orphanage and spending time with all the kids and teaching them how to paint, Rapunzel wanted to experience something new. Exploring and mapping uncharted lands must be fun for Hiccup and Toothless if they've been doing it for years, so Rapunzel hoped it would be the same for her too.

"I really want to go on this trip, so I guess that I'll have to do my very best with staying a friend to Hiccup and nothing more for the whole time." Rapunzel thought.

Now that she had made up her mind, Rapunzel didn't think it would really matter if she was falling in love with Hiccup, because he probably didn't feel the same way. Perhaps it was possible that Rapunzel wasn't actually falling in love with the Viking, but simply starting to develop a crush on him, and it wasn't so hard to see why. Rapunzel couldn't deny the fact that Hiccup was cute, especially when he was around Toothless, and she also knew the young man was intelligent and kindhearted.

"That's right, Punz, it's only just a crush, an infatuation. Anyone could have a crush on Hiccup because he's so nice and I'm sure it'll go away soon." Rapunzel thought.

It was right then and there Rapunzel had managed to convince herself that was the cause of her new emotions tonight, and she let out a relieved sigh, as she now felt confident they'd be gone. Rapunzel believed it was now time for her to finally get some much-needed sleep, so with that in mind, she walked over to one side of her bed and got herself under the covers. Instead of thinking about Hiccup or the kiss she'd given him earlier, Rapunzel kept her mind focused on imagining what kind of places she'd get to see on their trip a few months from now before drifting off to sleep.


	17. Unfriendly Faces

Two months later. . .

Today was finally the day when Rapunzel would accompany Toothless and Hiccup on an exciting trip outside of her kingdom to discover and explore new lands with them. Rapunzel had been anticipating this trip for so long, even before her parents gave their consent for her to go, and she wasn't the slightest bit worried that they'd say no. The only request her parents made was that the trip not be too long, but Rapunzel didn't want it to be too short, so Hiccup decided that the trip would last only one week.

Neither King Frederic nor Queen Arianna felt the need to ask Hiccup to keep their daughter safe because both of them knew in their hearts he would for the entire time. They were also confident that Toothless would protect Rapunzel from any harm, not just because he was a dragon, but also from the fact she never felt scared near him. After receiving their permission two months ago, Hiccup had begun to teach the kingdom's citizens how to ride a dragon, with sometimes even giving the lessons at night-time.

Hiccup genuinely thought this was a good arrangement, and it always gave Toothless a chance to literally stretch his wings, since he never liked to be on the ground for too long. The Viking would make sure to continue the lessons after they got back from their trip, considering the fact he's only taught a small fraction of the kingdom's population. Hiccup definitely wouldn't mind it if Rapunzel kept on joining him for more flights, not only because he enjoyed her company, but because he also liked to make her happy.

Knowing that the princess had a sense of adventure only made it that much easier, and Hiccup was certain that the trip would give Rapunzel a lot of new exciting memories. Since their daughter was just going on a short trip and not moving away, her parents decided no sort of party was necessary, but they'd inform the kingdom of her absence. The King and Queen didn't want them to leave on an empty stomach, so Hiccup and Rapunzel had a quick breakfast, while lots of dried fish were stored in a roomy stowage compartment of Toothless' saddle.

Now that they were in the summertime, Rapunzel decided that she would wear the exact same outfit she had worn for her very first flight with Hiccup, since she thought it made her look like a Viking too. Rapunzel didn't want to go through the whole trip without doing her favorite activity, and to the girl's delight, Hiccup had agreed to let her bring along a painting kit, with an easel, canvas, and lots of paint. At this very moment, Hiccup and Toothless, along with Rapunzel and her family were all outside at the castle's front doors, and the Berkians simply let the princess take her time with saying goodbye to her parents.

"We're going to miss you so much, darling," Queen Arianna said while embracing her daughter. "Make sure to stay close to Mr. Haddock while you're gone." She added.

"Mom, I promise that I'll stay close to Hiccup, and I'm going to miss you and Dad too." Rapunzel replied, before eventually pulling back from the hug with her mother.

"We obviously know that you're going to tell us everything that happened on your trip, so I don't think either of us need to tell you to do that." King Frederic assumed.

"Yes, Dad, that's right," Rapunzel responded with Pascal looking on happily from the top of her shoulder. "I won't leave anything out when I tell both of you." She added.

Hiccup already had himself secured to Toothless' saddle, but he remained patient as he waited for Rapunzel, since they weren't in any sort of rush to leave on their trip. As he watched Rapunzel hug her father, Hiccup started thinking of ways that he could make the trip more fun for the princess, even though they'd be seeing new lands together. It wasn't long before an idea had come to Hiccup's mind as he smiled and his eyes widened at the same time, and Hiccup was sure that Rapunzel wouldn't hesitate to do it.

The idea was for Rapunzel to take part in Hiccup's mapping project, meaning she'd get to not only name a new land they found, but also sketch out the land on his map. Even though it's something that Astrid's done with him, Hiccup didn't think that she'd mind so much, considering that he's let other Vikings add to the map themselves. Since they were probably going to discover more than one new land during their week-long trip, Hiccup felt confident that Rapunzel would want to do a lot of sightseeing.

Hiccup wouldn't mind them having a picnic, especially because it was Rapunzel's idea, and she already made sure to pack a basket with enough food for the two of them. None of it was dried fish, since that was already meant for Toothless, so Rapunzel had packed plenty of bread, butter, and fruit, not to mention a nice and long blanket too. The Viking's train of thought came to an abrupt stop as he noticed Rapunzel walking towards him and Toothless, so Hiccup quickly held out a hand for the princess to take.

"Thank you, Hiccup," Rapunzel said kindly as she took the boy's outstretched hand and carefully climbed over the Night Fury's harness before finally setting behind Hiccup.

"Your welcome," Hiccup answered back, and then he tried his best to keep from blushing as he felt Rapunzel wrap her arms around his waist. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yes, Hiccup, I'm ready." Rapunzel replied while nodding her head, since Hiccup must have been able to see most of her face, considering he had his own head half turned.

"Good," Hiccup said before turning his head to the front, then leaning toward Toothless' face and patting him gently on the top of his head. "Let's go, bud." He motioned.

Rapunzel held on tight to Hiccup while Pascal held on to her for dear life once again as Toothless shot off like a rocket into the bright blue sky, leaving Corona far behind them. Hiccup made sure to have his helmet on first before they took off, since he thought it was important to keep his face and head protected, and he was proud of his helmet. Not only did it have a dragon symbol on each side, but it featured a more classic Viking design with three rows of small spikes on the top to mirror those that Toothless had.

With the helmet on, Hiccup could be able to look more formidable, but without the helmet, along with the rest of his suit, Hiccup was just the same thin and gangly nerd. Even when he wasn't wearing his helmet, Hiccup looked a little ridiculous with his helmet-hair, the silky bell-shaped cut he'd had for years was now permanently tousled and frayed by all the helmet-wearing and riding he did often, but he never made much of an attempt to neaten it up. Right now, Hiccup wasn't focused on his unkempt hair or even his spiked helmet, but on what should be the first location for their trip, but he soon thought it'd be nice of him to let Rapunzel choose.

"Hey, Rapunzel, I figured since this is technically a trip for your birthday, I'll let you decide on where we should go first, and it can be anywhere you want." Hiccup declared.

The princess obviously felt quite touched that Hiccup would let her choose their destination, and so she took a moment to think of one before finally making up her mind.

"That's very sweet of you, Hiccup, but maybe we could discover a new land first, and then after that, we can go to one of the lands from your map." Rapunzel requested.

Even though Hiccup had told her all about every single land that him and Toothless discovered in their map in the past few weeks, he still thought it really was a good idea.

"Okay, Rapunzel, that sounds like a good plan to me," Hiccup said, before he leaned closer to Toothless' face once again. "You think that's a good plan too, bud?" He asked.

Toothless snorted as he gave the Viking a grin, and Hiccup obviously knew that meant a yes, so he grinned back to the dragon before bringing his head up to the front. Usually, Hiccup and Toothless loved to do a lot of cool stunts while they were flying, but it couldn't get to happen this time, since they had company and a lot of luggage too. As much as Hiccup wanted Rapunzel to have a lot of fun, he didn't want to make her sick, so he thought it was best to leave out any dip, roll, dive, and spin from this flight. However, the Viking soon started to think if it was rude of him to assume what Rapunzel would like and wouldn't like to happen during this flight, and he decided the best way for him to actually find out was to ask her personally.

"Rapunzel?" Hiccup said, and he waited just a few seconds before speaking again. "This might be a silly question to ask right now, but are you getting bored?" Hiccup asked.

"Why would I be bored, Hiccup? This is the very first trip outside of my kingdom for me ever since I've returned home, so why would you ask me that?" Rapunzel inquired.

"We love to perform stunts when we're in the sky, such as diving and spinning, so I'd like to know if you wouldn't mind if we did some of them right now." Hiccup replied.

"If they make this flight a lot more fun, then I don't see why not, Hiccup, but I do think that Pascal should be somewhere else so we don't lose him." Rapunzel suggested.

Hiccup thought that was a good idea; Pascal might have been able to hang on every time Toothless took off into the sky for their nighttime flights, he wasn't sure that the chameleon could do the same during their aerial stunts. The Berkian knew how much Pascal meant to Rapunzel, so the last thing he wanted was for the green lizard to fall into the sea below and not be found for hours on end. Fortunately, it didn't take Hiccup that long to think of a safe place for Pascal, and even though it already had a lot of stuff inside, there must have been room for the chameleon.

"How about the stowage compartment in Toothless' saddle? It already has dried fish and your painting kit, but I'm sure there's bit of room for Pascal." Hiccup suggested.

"Great idea, Hiccup!" Rapunzel exclaimed before taking one of her arms off his waist and brought the palm of her hand up to her left shoulder, where Pascal currently stood.

"I don't want to lose you, Pascal, so I want you to stay in the stowage compartment. It's not forever, it's just until Toothless has done all of his stunts." Rapunzel informed.

As much as he didn't want to be cramped in a small space, Pascal could tell from the look on Rapunzel's face that it had to be done, so the chameleon nodded to her friend.

"I'm glad you understand." Rapunzel said kindly, then turned her head as she heard a noise, which happened to be just Hiccup opening up Toothless' stowage compartment.

Pascal didn't waste any time as he moved to the palm of Rapunzel's hand, then he stayed still as Rapunzel slowly brought her hand near the stowage compartment for him.

"Thanks, Pascal." Hiccup said genuinely just as the chameleon started to leave Rapunzel's palm, and once Pascal was inside the stowage compartment, Hiccup closed it up.

"Well, Rapunzel, both of your arms should definitely be around my waist and you must hold on tight the whole time because I don't want to lose you too." Hiccup suggested.

Rapunzel's cheeks suddenly blushed from what Hiccup just said to her, but she quickly did what Hiccup asked of her and brought her right arm around his waist once again.

"I'm ready, Hiccup." Rapunzel declared while resting her chin on Hiccup's shoulder, since she thought it was smart to stay close as possible to Hiccup during Toothless' stunts.

The princess didn't think Hiccup ever minded her chin being on his shoulder, considering that she's done it during many of their night-time flights over the past two months. Each time they were in the sky, Rapunzel always convinced herself that she did it because of the beautiful atmosphere, not because she wanted to be more close to Hiccup. From seeing an incredible view of her kingdom to feeling the wind through her hair and over her skin, Rapunzel couldn't see how anybody else wouldn't do the same thing.

Rapunzel's heart had suddenly begun to beat a little faster as she saw Toothless flap his wings more frequently, which caused the dragon to fly at a speed higher than before. Now, Toothless wasn't simply gliding anymore, and this meant he was about to do one of those aerial stunts he loved, but first, he looked up at his best friend for approval. Instead of saying a single word, Hiccup leaned toward Toothless' face again and he patted his head while giving a nod to show his dragon that him and Rapunzel were ready.

Toothless snorted happily as he brought them down much closer to the sea while flying at the same pace, and Rapunzel didn't hesitate to look at the ocean waves below. The surface of the ocean shimmered in shades of blue, as if it were a giant lake made of precious diamonds, with deep blue sapphires engraved upon its flowing surface. Light poured generously from the sun, languidly engulfing the ocean's vastness with a delicate and almost ethereal atmosphere, and it was like being inside an endless mirror.

"The ocean's so beautiful. . ." Rapunzel whispered, but not before fitting her chin between Hiccup's shoulder and neck to say it into his ear, and the temperature of her mouth made his hairs stand on end.

Hiccup felt glad that Rapunzel was enjoying the flight so far, but he knew that if he didn't respond to her right way, then she'd probably ask him if something was wrong.

"Yeah, it is." Hiccup replied softly, but he soon realized that he'd been so busy flying Toothless that he didn't actually take a moment to look at the ocean below them.

When he slowly leaned his head to the right and looked down, Hiccup's mouth suddenly went agape before he gasped, as he now felt captivated by the ocean's beauty.

"You know, Hiccup, I wish that I could do a painting of it, but I'll wait until I've found something more beautiful, because I probably will later on this trip." Rapunzel said.

"I'm sure you will, Rapunzel, considering this is a week-long trip, and the ocean's always beautiful under the sun, so it should be something very special." Hiccup reminded.

"Yes, Hiccup, but it has to be something that I haven't seen before, and I've already done paintings of myself, Pascal, flowers, birds, forests, and Toothless." Rapunzel replied.

Hearing his dragon's name caused Hiccup to look back on the time when Rapunzel requested to do a painting of the Night Fury, and fortunately, Hiccup didn't turn her down. It had been the day just after the Berkians' first day in Corona, and Rapunzel told him the reason why is because she suddenly felt inspired by his chalk drawing in the streets. Since she was obviously going to do the painting on a canvas, the activity took place inside the castle, and especially in a room that was big enough not only for Toothless, but for Rapunzel to set up her canvas on a easel.

Hiccup had almost asked Rapunzel if she wanted to do a painting of him, but he decided that would happen for another time, so Hiccup kept the idea to himself back then. However, the Viking went ahead and requested if he could do a drawing of Rapunzel sometime in the near future, and Rapunzel said yes as she smiled and gave him a hug. When Rapunzel had finished her painting of Toothless, it turned out to be a recreation of their chalk drawings, but with Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Pascal all on Toothless' saddle.

"Speaking of Toothless, that painting you did of him with the lanterns was amazing, Rapunzel, and it was really nice that you included us and Pascal." Hiccup complimented.

"Thanks, Hiccup, and I knew that my parents would love it too, so I showed it to them after the paint was dry, and they were both really proud of me." Rapunzel answered.

Hiccup was about to respond when he noticed a herd of titan-wing Thunderdrums swimming in the distance, so he thought it was a good chance for them to do a cool stunt.

"Rapunzel, I hope you're hanging on tight," Hiccup said, before looking down to see Rapunzel's arms still wrapped around his waist. "We're about to do a roll!" He announced.

Toothless had already spotted the group of Thunderdrums, but it wasn't until Hiccup said something that the dragon knew his best friend wanted them to do of their stunts.

"I don't want Rapunzel to get soaked, so it has to be quick. Okay, bud?" Hiccup requested, and Toothless burbled out a 'noooooo' type sound that Hiccup knew meant 'yes'.

Rapunzel couldn't resist letting out a gasp in astonishment as she finally saw the Thunderdrums for herself, as it felt excellent to see another dragon so early into their trip. The princess already knew that they were Thunderdrums since Hiccup had told her all about them back in Corona, as well as every other dragon that he and Toothless encountered over the past five years. Before she even took a chance to talk about the Thunderdrums with Hiccup, he locked Toothless' tail into gliding position, and Rapunzel squealed in excitement and held on tightly to Hiccup as Toothless did a barrel roll.

Pulling off that daring maneuver had caused the Night Fury to get low enough and dive right under the wing of a Thunderdrum, while Hiccup and Rapunzel got sprayed by the surf as a result. It was only small droplets of water from the sea, so both of the young adults knew that there was no need to make a big deal out of it, since their clothes were completely clean. Rapunzel took a bit of time to relax herself by taking a few deep breaths, but when she brought one hand to her heart, the princess' eyes widened as it was still pounding heavily in her chest.

Rapunzel quickly wondered if whether she should wait until they were all on solid ground before asking Hiccup for more information about the history between his father and a Thunderdrum he named Thornado. Just as Rapunzel decided to wait on asking him, she noticed that they were now heading toward the sky and the ethereal cloud-scapes in the thinnest part of the atmosphere. It seemed like Hiccup wasn't planning to have Toothless slow down for Rapunzel to touch and feel any of the clouds surrounding them, but the princess didn't mind not having the chance, considering that she's done it many times in the past.

"Hang on for this, Rapunzel!" Hiccup instructed, and before she could ask him to be more specific, Toothless flew upside down for about three seconds, which caused Rapunzel to squeal once again while holding on for dear life.

The dragon soon returned to flying the right way up, but still remained as fast like a rocket as he flew in between the clouds around him, and this lasted for another few seconds before Toothless climbed higher into the air. For the third time on this day, Rapunzel squealed as the Night Fury did a tight, dizzying spin, and the princess started thinking about how Hiccup could be able to do this stunt without feeling sick to his stomach afterward. Instead of doing a squeal once more, Rapunzel let out a loud whoop and hung on to Hiccup tightly as Toothless fell down from the sky with his back to the clouds below them, and he did another spin before flying the right way up again.

"Hey, Rapunzel, bring out your arms!" Hiccup requested, and the young woman looked at Hiccup as if he'd lost his mind, since they were now flying upside down again.

Hiccup didn't even wait for Toothless to fly the right way up before extending his arms out, and making it appear as if he was a dragon just like his black, scaly best friend. When Rapunzel looked around, she started to understand why Hiccup had his arms outstretched on each side; another group of dragons was flying near them in the sky. These high-flying dragons obviously looked much different than the Thunderdrums in the ocean; they had no legs, but a woody brown colored body, along with a long slender neck. It didn't take long for Rapunzel to realize that they were Timberjacks, who were known for being able to collect and chop up wood, use oil based fire, and make tents out of their wings.

Rapunzel quickly looked down to see that Toothless had his wings out completely just like this group of Timberjacks around them, like they were all soaring in formation together. The princess eventually closed her eyes and Rapunzel took a deep breath before slowly taking both of her arms off from Hiccup's leather-clad waist and extended them out. When she opened her eyes, Rapunzel gasped as she felt like she was actually flying too, with her arms staying up like wings and nothing in her field of vision but the bright blue sky and fluffy white clouds, as well as gigantic dragons and Hiccup.

"I'm doing it, Hiccup! I'm flying!" Rapunzel exclaimed as she leaned forward and arched her back, while Hiccup couldn't help but smile from hearing the joy in her voice.

It made Hiccup feel so overjoyed to know that Rapunzel was now experiencing the exact same feeling that he got every time that him and Toothless did these flights. The weightlessness, the thrill that zapped through his guts and bones, it was as addictive as a drug, and even though he'd been doing this for years, Hiccup never got tired of it. There was one more thing that Hiccup wanted to show Rapunzel, but he thought it'd be much better to do it way up here in the sky, so that it could actually leave an impression on her.

"Hey, Rapunzel?" Hiccup said, then waited a few seconds before speaking again, while Rapunzel still kept her arms up. "I'd really like to show you something." He added.

"Sure, Hiccup, what is it?" Rapunzel asked as she couldn't resist becoming more curious about what Hiccup wanted to show her, and she wondered if it'd be something new.

"It's a stunt that I can do with my flight suit, but it requires for me not to be on Toothless, so could you be able to hold on to his saddle the whole time?" Hiccup inquired.

As much as she wanted to say yes, Rapunzel believed that Hiccup should at least give her a lot more details about this stunt before she gave her approval for him to do it.

"If you don't mind, Hiccup, could you please tell me more about the stunt, because I think it'd make sense for me to know more before you actually go through with it." Rapunzel replied.

Rapunzel hoped that Hiccup wasn't too bothered by her request, but fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case, as she noticed Hiccup grin before nodding his head.

"You see these?" Hiccup asked, not before pulling up a thin, flexible leather wing attached along each side from his calves, up to his waist, and then just below his wrists.

"This is my own pair of wings, Rapunzel, and if my arms are spread out in the air, then I can soar like a dragon, although I can't flap and fly, but gliding's good enough, especially since it's all Toothless can do without me as well. My flight suit's most stabilizing feature is the dorsal fin." Hiccup explained.

After he said this, Hiccup pressed the release button, triggering the fin to pop up, and inadvertently causing Rapunzel to lean back from being struck by it in the chest, but it wasn't so hard that it actually hurt.

"I've tested the wings out before with varying results, and it's getting close to perfect, the only problems are the landings. I constantly lose height while gliding, so I have to be lifted momentarily by Toothless firing plasma blasts beneath me. Eventually, Toothless has to grab me or get under me, otherwise we'd both crash very sloppily, so what do you say, Rapunzel, could we show you the stunt?" Hiccup asked.

Even though he's done a lot of stunts already, Rapunzel couldn't think of any reason to turn down Hiccup's request, considering now seemed like the right time to do it.

"Yes, Hiccup, you can show me." Rapunzel answered, but she waited until Hiccup reeled the dorsal fin back in with the sensitive spring coil, which only took a few seconds.

"Great!" Hiccup exclaimed, and he quickly pushed down the saddle's handlebars, locked Toothless' tail into gliding position, and unhooked his metal foot from the stirrup.

"Just remember to always hang onto the handlebars right here." Hiccup instructed, and Rapunzel immediately leaned her head to see exactly what he was talking about.

"Okay, I got it." Rapunzel responded, while she started to feel sad that she wouldn't get to hold on to Hiccup for much longer, while the majority of her felt very anxious.

"Ready, bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless, who only snorted unenthusiastically, and just a few seconds passed before Hiccup slid sideways off of his dragon and into the sky.

Rapunzel's mouth went agape as she watched Hiccup's plummet, but her eyes got even wider as she turned her head, moved forward and grabbed onto the handlebars. It was a good thing Rapunzel remembered to do that because Toothless dove after Hiccup, and she couldn't resist squealing from the direction and speed they were going. The princess held on tightly as the Night Fury did a few twirls before reaching Hiccup, who grinned at Toothless behind his mask and the dragon returned the gleeful look.

Even though she's gotten a thrill every time Toothless has flown upside down, Rapunzel had to let out a sigh of relief when the dragon returned to flying the right side up. Hiccup slipped his forearms through a pair of tucked leather straps along his legs and pulled at the straps, which unleashed his wings right when he extended his arms out. His wings caught the air and Hiccup was suddenly lifted by a hundred feet so that he was once more above the clouds, while Toothless unfolded his own wings to catch up.

Rapunzel let out a short squeal right when this happened, and with a quick tap to his chest, Hiccup's dorsal-fin was out, and there he simply was, soaring among heaven. The freedom was palpable, and for the moment, everybody except Pascal was feeling the same rush of adrenaline, as Hiccup and Toothless plunged over cloud formations. Impressive as it was, Hiccup was gliding at a steep angle, and Rapunzel watched as Toothless launched fireballs ahead of Hiccup, which boosted the Viking higher with the expanding heat bursts.

"Whaddya think, Rapunzel? Isn't this amazing?" Hiccup asked, while making sure to speak loud enough for the princess to hear him, and he really hoped that she did.

Before she could say a word, a previously unseen landscape appeared right in front of them, a series of high, tottering rock formations that Hiccup was about to smash into.

"No longer amazing! Toothless!" Hiccup shouted as he tried to steer himself away to no avail, while Rapunzel's eyes widened and she gasped and at the sight before her.

Close calls occurred all the time, but as long as Toothless was around, Hiccup felt safe, but the Berkian's own eyes went wide as he remembered Rapunzel was with them. The last thing Hiccup wanted to happen right now was for Rapunzel to get hurt from the rock formations, so he quickly started thinking of a plan that would protect her. Only a few nanoseconds passed before Hiccup came up with an idea, and even though Rapunzel probably wouldn't like it, he didn't currently have anything else in mind.

"Toothless, bring Rapunzel to me!" Hiccup ordered, and the Night Fury instant poured on the speed despite his tailfin still being locked, and Rapunzel sitting on top of him.

The locked tailfin made maneuvering difficult for Toothless, since he was unable to pull up at a steep enough angle, but he had no idea of the next thing Hiccup would say.

"Rapunzel, sit on Toothless' head!" Hiccup instructed loudly, and Rapunzel didn't bother to ask him why as she moved herself up until she was on top of the dragon's head.

The princess couldn't resist wondering how she'd be brought over to Hiccup while still being up in the air, but she wasn't anticipating the solution that Toothless had in mind. Rapunzel became a little confused when the dragon brought his head down as low as possible, then suddenly raised it up, sending her flying off his head and toward Hiccup. At the last second, Toothless blasted the jagged rocks just ahead of them, then managed to catch Rapunzel, and wrap her and Hiccup in his wings as they flew through it.

The obliterated peak rained down around them as Toothless emerged through the cloud of debris from the rock formation and hurtled into the trees of a neighboring peak. Toothless tumbled down the uneven terrain, and finally came to rest on a small plateau, and only a few seconds passed before Hiccup emerged from the cocoon of Toothless' wings. Hiccup switched his prosthetic riding foot to his walking foot, stowed his leather wings, reeled in his dorsal fin and removed his spiked helmet all in less than a single minute.

He was about to walk over to the cliff's edge when he suddenly wondered if Rapunzel was okay after being caught by Toothless, and he quickly went back to where she was. His eyes widened as he saw that Rapunzel was unconscious and he didn't think that he could live with himself if Rapunzel had gotten hurt as a result of their actions earlier. The reason why Toothless hadn't moved is because Rapunzel was laying down against his chest, and Hiccup gently picked her up in his arms and he was relieved to know that she wasn't too heavy.

"Rapunzel?" Hiccup said softly, while hoping that the sound of his voice would be enough to wake her up, and not something drastic like having Toothless roar in her face.

Even though he heard the sound of a sea stack they'd blasted through collapsing in the background, Hiccup didn't bother to notice, since Rapunzel's condition was his only concern right now. He knew that he'd probably lose the trust of Rapunzel's parents if they lost their daughter permanently because of him during this trip, so Hiccup prayed to the gods that Rapunzel would wake up. To the young man's relief, Rapunzel's face started to stir a bit before her eyes opened up completely, and it didn't take her long to realize she wasn't standing on her two feet.

"Hiccup?" Rapunzel's cheeks began to develop a red shade from how close Hiccup's face was to hers, but she still had a question. "Why are you carrying me?" She asked.

This caused Hiccup to blush himself, not only because their faces were in close proximity to each other's, but from the fact he was still carrying the princess in his arms.

"Oh, Rapunzel, I'm sorry!" Hiccup replied before carefully letting her down. "I only did it because you weren't awake and still leaning against Toothless' chest." He added.

"Well, thanks, Hiccup," Rapunzel said, then her eyes widened as something came to mind. "I think we can let Pascal out that of stowage compartment." She suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Hiccup responded, now believing that Pascal had been kept inside the dragon's stowage compartment long enough, and so he walked over to it.

With one hand, Hiccup opened up the stowage compartment, then he held up the palm of his other hand so that Pascal could come on top without falling on the ground. After the chameleon finally came out to stand on his palm, Hiccup closed the stowage compartment before getting up on his feet and making his way over to Rapunzel. The girl stood absolutely still and watched as Hiccup brought his palm right next to her left shoulder, and Pascal didn't waste any time in moving onto that spot once again.

"So, Rapunzel, how would you and Pascal like to see the view?" Hiccup suggested, then held out a hand for Rapunzel, but not before stepping back to give her some space.

Instead of saying a word, Rapunzel only smiled and nodded her head before taking Hiccup's hand in hers, and she stayed close to him as they walked over to the cliff's edge.

"What do you think?" Hiccup asked, and he felt like he already knew Rapunzel's answer after he'd taken a glance to see the girl's mouth go agape before she made a gasp.

In front of them was a whole new landscape, one they'd never seen before in their life; tall cliffs and sea-stacks adorned with swaying gold birch trees basking in the dappled afternoon sunlight, and white looming mountains in the background.

"Looks like we found another new land." Hiccup said with pride clearly in his voice, and he was already eager to get out his map, but instead, he turned to face Rapunzel.

Rapunzel's eyes widened a little as she believed that Hiccup wasn't referring to just him and Toothless, and she quickly looked down to see they were still holding hands.

"It's beautiful, Hiccup, and we may have crashed on this island, I'm completely fine, so you don't have to hold my hand, it's not like I'm gonna jump." Rapunzel replied.

"I know you won't, Rapunzel, but it's just that I promised myself to keep you safe during this trip, so I'm only making sure that you don't slip and fall." Hiccup explained.

Rapunzel was very touched to know that Hiccup was making her safety as a top priority for him, and she actually did feel a little more safe with Hiccup holding her hand. The princess started to blush while realizing that her face was dangerously close to Hiccup's once again, and the pair drew ever nearer, closer and closer, until finally. . .Hiccup flinched as a pebble suddenly whacked him on his head, which caused Rapunzel to gasp and they both looked back to Toothless who quickly averted his eyes. It couldn't have been Pascal, since Hiccup was the one who'd kindly brought the chameleon back on Rapunzel's shoulder, and the pebble was definitely thrown from a distance.

"Hey, bud, why'd you do that?" Hiccup asked as he rubbed the back of his head while he and Rapunzel walked away from the cliff's edge, but still held her hand in his own.

Rapunzel started to believe that Toothless was upset with Hiccup for not acknowledging the fact that the Night Fury saved their lives and he didn't even get a thank you.

"I think I know why, Hiccup," Rapunzel said, and she waited until the Viking faced her before speaking again. "We wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for him." She added.

Hiccup had to admit Rapunzel did have a point there, and besides, there have been many times when Hiccup could've been hurt or worse if Toothless hadn't been with him.

"You're right, Rapunzel," Hiccup said in agreement, then he slowly untwined his thin fingers out from Rapunzel's own slender fingers. "I'm gonna thank him right now."

Rapunzel kept quiet and watched as Hiccup walked over to where Toothless sat, and it wasn't until he stood right in front of the dragon that he stopped right where he was.

"Hey, bud, thanks for saving us earlier, and I'd like you to know that I really appreciate every other time that you've done it for me." Hiccup said, expressing his gratitude.

Toothless knew that he couldn't stay at Hiccup forever, especially since he could tell from the boy's tone of voice that he was genuinely sincere and also meant every word.

"So, can I now have a hug?" Hiccup asked, and as soon as he saw the Night Fury nod his head to him, Hiccup quickly tackled the dragon and tugged him around the neck.

Rapunzel smiled while putting a hand to her heart because she was obviously touched by the moment happening in front of her, but she continued to stay silent for them.

"Since we're being honest, we really gotta work on your solo gliding, bud. That locked-up tail makes for some pretty sloppy rescue maneuvers, eh?" Hiccup told the dragon.

It seemed like Hiccup had ruined the moment by saying that, as Toothless suddenly made a deep frown before standing on his hind legs, lifting Hiccup off of his flailing feet. Rapunzel could only wonder what the Night Fury was doing exactly, but she quickly stepped aside when Toothless stumbled forward with the very same tottering walk he'd copied from Hiccup on the first day they'd bonded all those years ago. The princess instantly realized that the dragon was just trying to get back at Hiccup for what he said earlier, since Toothless must have thought it wasn't a very nice remark, and she had to agree on that, considering she heard it loud and clear.

"Bud, where are we going-" Hiccup immediately knew the answer to that question as he looked over his shoulder and one of his hands slipped off his friend's smooth hide.

There was a long, precipitous drop down below to nothing but rocks and ocean, and Hiccup was dangling right over it, so he though it was best to concede defeat right now.

"Okay, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hiccup shouted, but not before yelping at the sight of the drop, and as he continued to slip, he could also feel Toothless vibrate with laughter.

The dragon continued to laugh as he finally backed away from the treacherous drop and flipped them over so that Hiccup was now lying down with his back on the ground.

"Hiccup! Are you okay?" Rapunzel asked as she ran over to where Hiccup was and quickly crouched down to get closer to him, but not too close so he still had some space.

"Oh, yeah, Rapunzel, I'm fine," Hiccup replied while briefly waving a hand to her. "My best friend just hung me over a cliff, but I'm still in one piece." He added sarcastically.

Rapunzel knew that Hiccup wasn't being serious or even making a joke for that matter, but she still couldn't help but giggle for a bit since she thought it was a little funny.

"What's so funny?" Hiccup asked, as he could be able to hear Rapunzel's giggles since she was right next to him, even though she was covering her mouth with one hand.

"Just the fact that your dragon is still on top of you." Rapunzel answered before giggling again, and Hiccup took this as a chance for him to have some fun with Toothless.

"He's down! Agh, and it's ugly!" Hiccup declared while throwing mock punches at the Night Fury, and Toothless playfully retaliated by making feline taps to Hiccup's head.

Rapunzel had already stood up on her feet, taken a few steps back and she looked on as Hiccup batted playfully at his stronger companion, fondly kidding around with him. Toothless and Hiccup might be two entirely different species, but they really were like two adorable twin brothers, play-fighting with only the utmost love at the moment. Their bond had truly become unbreakable with all the adventures they had of soaring through the skies and above the sea to discover uncharted lands and new territories.

"Dragons and Vikings, enemies again, locked in combat to the bitter-" And that's when Toothless had dropped his large weight onto Hiccup, squeezing the air out of him.

Even though Rapunzel's eyes widened a little upon seeing this happen, she knew that Toothless wasn't really trying to hurt Hiccup, and he'd only done it just to have fun.

"Hiccup, are you okay? Rapunzel asked concernedly, and instead of saying a word, Hiccup slowly made a smile before raising one of his hands before giving a thumbs up.

Rapunzel let out a sigh of relief, but before she could say something, Toothless then suddenly started to groom Hiccup by licking at his face and covering him in slobber.

"Gaaaaagh!" Hiccup cried out as he fought to get free while Rapunzel couldn't resist giggling again, but she made sure not to be too loud so that Hiccup couldn't hear her.

"You know that doesn't wash out." Hiccup reminded the Night Fury, but not before finally springing to his feet and shaking off as much of the viscous saliva as he could.

Toothless began to laugh, as he was obviously pleased with himself, but he stopped when he got hit in the face with some of his saliva, and he started to lick himself clean. As the dragon's saliva dried on his flight suit, Hiccup brought his attention back to the new land that was stretched out before them, then he reached beneath his chest plate and took out a leather-bound book. Hiccup unfolded and flattened it out to reveal an explorers' map, modified with added strips in every direction to accommodate their ever-expanding world as the drawings indicated new lands, new tribes, and many new dragons.

Rapunzel stayed quiet and watched as Hiccup peeled a fresh page of paper from a hidden fold in the flap under his right gauntlet and held it out for Toothless to lick with that otherwise-useless saliva to glue a new section onto the map in the far southeast. Even though Hiccup had already shown his map to Rapunzel many times in the past two months, seeing the map always left her in awe and a little bit envious of Hiccup for getting to have so many adventures over the past five years. Hiccup affixed the moistened page to the map's outer edge, then he sharpened his charcoal pencil with a dagger from his left gauntlet, and checked his compass for alignment.

"So, what should we name it?" Hiccup asked before turning his head to face Toothless, who quickly made himself preoccupied as he gnawed under his wing for a moment.

It didn't take Hiccup that long to think of a name upon seeing that, and it usually never took him a while, and so the name that came to his mind this time was "Itchy Armpit". Hiccup had clearly inherited the Viking propensity for giving terrible names to things, although he didn't realize it, even though he should have realized it ever since he named Toothless. He was about to declare that "Itchy Armpit" be the name of the new land when he noticed Rapunzel sit down next to him, and he began to wonder if she had a name in mind.

"Rapunzel?" Hiccup said, and it wasn't until Rapunzel faced him before he spoke again. "We found this land together, so what do you think the name should be?" She asked.

The princess quickly got up on her feet and walked closer to the cliff's edge, since having another good look of the landscape would really help her to come up with a name.

"Foggy Fall." Rapunzel announced proudly while being loud enough for Hiccup to hear her, but she thought it was necessary to explain to Hiccup why she choose that name.

Toothless and Hiccup both kept their eyes on Rapunzel as she made her way back over to them, then sat down on the same spot near Hiccup's side before speaking again.

"I can tell the trees have the same colors as the trees you see in the fall, such as red, orange, and yellow, and they're all surrounded by a thick fog." Rapunzel explained.

Hiccup had to admit Rapunzel's name for this new land was a lot more creative and than Toothless' name, even though they named many new lands together in the past.

"Hey, bud?" Hiccup said as he turned to look at Toothless, who quickly gave his attention upon hearing his nickname. "You don't mind if we use Rapunzel's name?" He asked.

When the dragon only tilted his head, Hiccup believed that Toothless didn't really understand his question, so he knew that he had to be more specific for the Night Fury.

"I don't mean that we call the land "Rapunzel", but "Foggy Fall", and the name makes more sense, with the autumn trees and the fog around them." Hiccup explained.

Hiccup began to assume that Toothless must have been upset when he didn't respond, but kept his eyes on the dragon as he made his way over to where Rapunzel sat.

"So, Toothless, do you like the name I came up with?" Rapunzel asked curiously while she reached out slowly to stroke Toothless, who soon was purring at the girl's touch.

"I'm guessing that's a "yes"." Hiccup said before he started to carefully draw Foggy Fall's outline as he still felt the energy he got from their adrenaline-fuelled flight and silly playtime with Toothless.

Eventually, a smile appeared on Hiccup's face as he felt quite astounded by Toothless' affection for Rapunzel once again, and he'd become very happy to see them get close. Hiccup always became amazed every time he remembered it was only two months ago that they met for the first time, but managed to have a strong bond ever since. The dragon rider believed that if he didn't say something, then it would soon become awkward between the three of them, so he cleared his throat first before speaking.

"Whaddya reckon, bud? Think we might find a few Timberjacks in those woods? The odd Whispering Death or two in the rocks? Who knows. . .maybe we'll finally track down another Night Fury." Hiccup supposed.

Hearing this from his best friend had suddenly caused Toothless to stop purring and start sniffing hopefully at the map while a question instantly came to Rapunzel's mind.

"You've never found any Night Furies?" Rapunzel asked curiously while looking at Hiccup, who only shook his head as he continued to stare off blankly into the distance.

Five years, they'd been looking for any possible trace of more Night Furies, and. . .nothing. Were they really that rare? Sure, the Berkians had classified them as Mystery class for so long, but he'd assumed that was just because they were stealthy and elusive and never came close enough to being taken down. It worried Hiccup, though he'd say no such thing to Toothless. They'd just have to keep looking. Stubbornness and perseverance, he had in spades.

"Hiccup, I'm sure that there's more of them out there," Rapunzel encouraged as she slowly placed a hand on his chest. "Maybe you haven't searched far enough." She added.

Rapunzel was tempted to kiss Hiccup on the cheek, but she decided not to do that when she remembered that Hiccup didn't wipe off any of Toothless' slobber from his face.

"Maybe you're right, Rapunzel, but. . ." Hiccup trailed off as he eyed the horizon keenly. "Y'know, there is something out there right now, and it's not a Night Fury." He added.

The princess gave Hiccup a questioning look as she wondered what he meant by that, but it seemed like she knew the answer right away when she turned to see what he was looking at. A column of black smoke rose in the distance, and since their interest was obviously peaked from seeing this, Rapunzel and Hiccup didn't see why they shouldn't go and investigate. Toothless quickly got up on all fours while Hiccup took his map from off the ground and folded it up before putting it back into his chest plate before he stood up on his feet and got on Toothless.

After he'd done that, Hiccup kindly held out a hand for Rapunzel to take, and once they were both sitting on Toothless with her arms around his waist, they took off into the unknown. They flew over the fjord, winding deep through undulating crimson and gold forests until the autumn colors suddenly gave way to charred timbers with nothing but ash and wafting smoke. Rapunzel started to feel a little uneasy from seeing these tall spindly black skeletons were all that was left of massive sections of the forest, but it only made her much more curious.

Hiccup and Toothless flew deeper through the hazy terrain until they happened upon something the likes of which none of them have ever seen before: a massive, splintered tower of blue ice. The sight of this icy explosion caused everyone's eyes to widen in astonishment, but Toothless continued to fly closer and go through the suspended remains of the buildings, which were frozen in mid-destruction. Toothless spotted a pair of footprints that were practically the size of houses left in the muddy shoreline below, and Rapunzel seemed to notice them too, and gently patted Hiccup's shoulder to get his attention.

"I think a dragon might have done this, Hiccup," Rapunzel assumed before she pointed to the large footprints in the mud. "You see those footprints down there?" She asked.

"Yeah, Rapunzel, I see them, but honestly, I don't just want to know what kind of dragon it was, I'd really like to know what would cause a dragon to do this." Hiccup replied.

As they crested the ice formations, Hiccup became so deep in thought that he didn't notice a crew of men at the stern of a moored ship below, but Rapunzel did spot them.

"Hiccup, look out!" Rapunzel shouted as she quickly pointed to the crew, and Hiccup saw that a few of these men were standing right behind a stern-mounted cannon.

"Fire!" One of the men shouted, and a projectile was instantly fired from the cannon, and it soon unfurled into a net, which was fast-approaching Toothless and Hiccup.

Although the Viking and his dragon had managed to dart out of the way, Rapunzel wasn't quite so lucky as she got tangled in the net, causing her to fall off of Toothless.

"Rapunzel!" Hiccup exclaimed, but not before he turned around to catch sight of Rapunzel hurtling toward a collision, and he pulled Toothless into a turn and dove for her.

The dragon managed to grab onto the net with his claws, but since Rapunzel was still caught in the net and falling at such a great speed, they only went down with her. Hiccup really didn't know who these men were, but he believed that they didn't shoot this net to catch a princess, and they probably didn't even know who Rapunzel was. If that was the case, then Hiccup needed to take a leap of faith that these men wouldn't hurt Rapunzel if she fell into their clutches, so he had Toothless let go of the net.

He figured that once those men had gotten Rapunzel out of that net, then he and Toothless would get her back and they'd just fly away and simply return to their trip. When they circled back, Hiccup was a little relieved to see that Rapunzel didn't hit the ground and she'd been caught by these men who were now starting to get her out of the net. Hiccup became a lot more angry and disappointed that these men refused to let Rapunzel go even after she was finally free from the net that was shot at them recently.

"Stop!" Hiccup shouted as Toothless landed on the splintered platform with a ferocious roar, and it didn't take long for most of the men to draw their weapons at them.

Hiccup quickly got off Toothless and bravely stepped forward before taking out and igniting Inferno, and it seemed these men were impressed from the looks on their faces.

"Back again?" This question came from a large, raven haired man, who Hiccup assumed was the leader of what looked like a group of Sámi men from the clothes they wore.

There was no doubt in Hiccup's mind that these men were dragon trappers, so he knew they'd want to get Toothless, since their leader had begun staring at the dragon.

"Soil my britches. . .that is a Night Fury. Thought they were all gone for good." The leader said before taking a glance at Rapunzel before turning to face Toothless again.

"Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads! Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army." The leader told his fellow dragon trappers, who all sounded out in agreement.

"Dragon army?" Rapunzel said quietly in a confused tone before she tried to get herself out of the dragon trapper's grasp, but to no avail, since her own arms were stuck under the man's big arms.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." Hiccup said as he still hoped these men could be reasoned with, despite the fact that each of them, including their leader, looked very unfriendly.

"Ha! You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragons and blasted our fort to bits!" The leader shouted before pointing up to the icy destruction above them.

"Wait. . .you think we did this?" Hiccup asked, and he almost felt tempted to tell these dragon trappers they were in Corona, but decided not to, since he didn't want to risk putting Rapunzel's family and all their citizens in any danger.

"Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is, without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them." The leader revealed while still sounding as hostile as ever.

"What do-gooder. . ." Hiccup trailed off as he took a moment to take in what the leader of dragon trappers had just told them. "There are other dragon riders?" He asked.

"You mean, other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me." The leader said as he walked a little bit closer to Hiccup, while Toothless snarled protectively.

You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side, but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?" The leader inquired.

"Drago what-fist? Does anything you say make sense?" Hiccup replied as he now thought that everything he'd been told so far from this man was all kinds of weird.

"He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow." One dragon trapper informed, while another told them "And Drago don't take well to excuses."

"This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed." The leader said, but not before he parted his tunic, revealing a large branding-iron scar on his torso, in the shape of a dragon skull, split by a sword.

Seeing this scar caused Hiccup to grimace, and the expression on Toothless' face didn't change at all, while Rapunzel couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the man. It also made Rapunzel start to believe this leader of dragon trappers didn't really like working for this Drago Bludvist at all, but was more in the job out of fear than loyalty. Rapunzel was actually tempted to ask him if that was the truth, but he'd probably just deny it, and the man who was currently holding her tightly would most likely tell her to be quiet.

"Look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief, or an ice-spitting dragon, or your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay? Just let go of my girlfriend and we'll . ."

Hiccup suddenly froze from what he just said as his eyes widened and his cheeks began to blush, and he turned to see that Rapunzel had the exact same look on her face. The Viking wanted to tell all of these dragon trappers that he already had a girlfriend back on Berk, but he wasn't so sure they were interested to hear about his love life. He remembered that he still had one specific goal to accomplish right now, and that was to rescue Rapunzel so they could get as far away from these men as possible.

"As I was saying, just let go of my best friend and we'll go," Hiccup said, while correcting his grammar. "Strange, hostile person whom we've never met." He added.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Eret. Son of Eret," The leader introduced as he bowed playfully before pulling a dagger from behind his back, and waved it cockily.

"Finest dragon trapper alive." Eret continued as his men readied their crossbows and net cannons. "After all, it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury."

Eret pointed his dagger right at Toothless, who roared a warning, and Hiccup took that as the dragon telling him that it was about time they all got out of there.

"And this is Toothless. He says we're going, now." Hiccup declared before taking a glance at Rapunzel. "When we do, you won't have my best friend either." He added.

Hiccup felt very relieved that neither Eret nor any of his fellow dragon trappers had given him a hard time for calling Rapunzel his girlfriend by accident not so long ago.

"Rush 'em, lads!" Eret ordered as he lunged toward them, and Toothless quickly shot a plasma blast, which brought down a massive spire of ice from high above them.

It shattered as it hit the ground, forcing Eret and his men to dive out of the way, and fortunately, this included the dragon trapper who'd been holding Rapunzel. Making quick use of the distraction, Rapunzel wasted no time in running over to Hiccup, but then she heard a familiar squeak, causing her to turn back, look down and see Pascal walking toward her on the ground. By the time Eret got back up on his his feet, he saw Toothless take to the air, carrying Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Pascal out of reach of the volley of their swords and arrows.

"You will never hold on to that dragon, you hear me?! Drago is coming for them all!" Eret announced, and Hiccup couldn't help feeling a little unsettled from hearing that.

Although the whole experience left him a little shaken, Hiccup was sure that he'd recover for the most part, but there was someone else that he was more concerned about.

"Are you okay, Rapunzel?" Hiccup asked, and he instantly felt a bit dumb for asking that question, since he thought no person would really come out just fine after going through a situation like that.

"Yes, Hiccup, I'm okay," Rapunzel answered while she nodded her head, before eventually turning to face Pascal. "What about you, Pascal, are you okay?" She asked.

To the girl's relief, the chameleon made a small smile as he squeaked in a happy tone, and he hoped that him and Rapunzel wouldn't ever have to see those men again.

"Pascal told me that he's okay too." Rapunzel informed as she felt grateful to Hiccup and Toothless for getting them out of there, but then a question came to her mind.

"Hey, Hiccup, there's something that I'd like to ask you." Rapunzel said, and Hiccup immediately assumed that he knew exactly what Rapunzel was going to ask him.

"Wait, Rapunzel, if it's about me calling you my girlfriend, then you should know that was just a simple mistake, and I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." Hiccup responded.

"Actually, I was going to ask if you really think those men enjoy trapping dragons, because I don't think they would if their leader got that kind of scar." Rapunzel said.

Hiccup felt a little ashamed that he was wrong about Rapunzel's question, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from answering the question she asked him just now.

"I don't know, Rapunzel, that guy seemed to be quite arrogant and hard-headed, even when he showed it to us, but I do know where we're going now." Hiccup replied.

"Really, and where are we going, Hiccup?" Rapunzel asked curiously, and she had a feeling that they weren't off to discover a new land like they'd done earlier today.

"To Berk, my home, because if there's men out there trapping dragons and bringing them to some guy for his dragon army, then my dad needs to know as soon as possible." Hiccup declared.

"I wonder if your dad will even remember me, Hiccup, because the last time I saw him was three months ago, since he did want to meet me before leaving my kingdom." Rapunzel revealed.

Hiccup's eyes widened as he realized this would be Rapunzel's very first trip to his village, and so he couldn't resist thinking about what everybody's reaction would be when they saw her with him. With the outfit Rapunzel was wearing at the moment, they'd probably assume that she decided to live on Berk and become Hiccup's wife, but he'd make sure to tell them that was completely wrong. The dragon rider was absolutely sure that one of the villagers, perhaps Gobber, would take her on a private tour through Berk and show her all the contributions that he's made to accommodate the dragons.

"Who knows, Rapunzel, maybe he will, since you do look like a Viking, but when we get there, I have to tell him about the dragon trappers right away." Hiccup reminded.

"Okay, Hiccup, but here's another question," Rapunzel said and waited a few seconds before speaking again. "Will you introduce me as your best friend or your girlfriend?"

"My best friend, obviously." Hiccup replied before making a sheepish laugh and he tried his best not to blush as he focused on reaching their destination before it got dark out.

Hiccup prayed to the gods that Rapunzel wouldn't talk about his blunder to anyone, especially Astrid, because if she found out, then Hiccup would never hear the end of it.


End file.
